The ashy-faced owl is a species of bird in the barn-owl family Tytonidae. It is found on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, on Dominica, and on several other islands of the Lesser Antilles.
Region
Caribbean (Hispaniola and Lesser Antilles)
Typical Environment
Core range is Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), including nearby satellite islands, where it occupies forests, scrub, farmland, and towns. It has been introduced to Dominica and persists in some other Lesser Antillean localities. The species tolerates human-modified landscapes and frequently uses buildings, caves, and large tree cavities for roosting and nesting. It forages over open fields, pastures, and forest edges, often along roads and plantation margins.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 2000 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
An island barn-owl, the ashy-faced owl is naturally confined to Hispaniola but has been introduced to Dominica and a few Lesser Antillean islands for rodent control. Its dusky, ashy-grey facial disc distinguishes it from the common barn owl. It roosts in caves, tree cavities, and human structures and hunts silently at night using exceptional hearing. Introduced populations have raised conservation concerns due to predation on native birds.
Temperament
solitary and secretive
Flight Pattern
silent, buoyant flight with steady wingbeats and short glides
Social Behavior
Typically forms monogamous pairs that defend a nesting territory. Nests in tree cavities, caves, cliffs, and buildings, often reusing sites. Clutches usually contain several eggs, and both adults tend young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are harsh, drawn-out screeches typical of barn owls, often delivered during nocturnal hunting or near nest sites. Also gives hisses, rasps, and bill-clicking when alarmed.
Plumage
Sooty to ashy-grey facial disc with a darker rim; crown and mantle grey-brown mottled with pale flecks; underparts buff to off-white with fine dark speckling.
Diet
Primarily hunts small mammals such as rats and mice, which it locates by sound. It also takes small birds, reptiles, and large insects when available. Prey is swallowed whole and indigestible parts are egested as pellets. Hunting is usually low over open ground or from perches, with short, silent sorties.
Preferred Environment
Favors open and semi-open areas including pastures, sugarcane and other plantations, field edges, and rural settlements. Often hunts along hedgerows, roadsides, and forest margins, and roosts in caves, barns, and abandoned buildings.
