Tyto

The genus Tyto includes all barn owls (family Tytonidae) except for the bay owls (subfamily Phodilinae, genus Phodilus) – that is, the true barn owls, the grass owls and the masked owls collectively making up the subfamily Tytoninae. They are darker on the back than the front, usually an orange-brown colour, the front being a paler version of the back or mottled, although there is considerable variation even amongst species. Tyto owls have a divided, heart-shaped facial disc, and lack the ear-like tufts of feathers found in many other owls. Tyto owls tend to be larger than Bay-owls. The name tyto (τυτώ) is onomatopeic Greek for owl.

Throughout their evolutionary history, Tyto owls have shown a better capability to colonize islands than other owls. Several such island forms have become extinct, some long ago, but some in comparatively recent times. A number of insular barn-owls from the Mediterranean and the Caribbean were very large or truly gigantic species.

Systematics

Living and recently extinct species – and some notable subspecies – of barn owls are: