Inside the World of the Barn owl

Question 1 · multiple choice

Which field camp would place a researcher closest to the natural home of a Barn owl?

savannas and scrublands where termite colonies occur farmland, grassland, marsh edges, and open woodland forests, grasslands, deserts, and rocky country in Australia and New Guinea desert, scrub, grassland, and rocky country

Question 2 · multiple choice

Which food tray most closely copies what a Barn owl normally finds in nature?

fungus cultivated on carefully prepared leaf fragments medium to large hoofed animals, plus smaller prey when available mostly small mammals located by sound grasses and other low vegetation

Question 3 · multiple choice

Which activity schedule best describes a Barn owl?

activity varies, often increasing at dawn, dusk, or night near people often hunts from dusk through night active by day close to its anemone hunts mainly from dusk through night

Question 4 · multiple choice

A Barn owl must travel through its habitat. Which movement strategy does it actually use?

flies slowly and silently before dropping onto prey walks plantigrade, runs surprisingly fast, swims, and digs stalks silently, bursts forward, swims well, and can climb swims in short bursts and rarely travels far from shelter

Question 5 · multiple choice

A Barn owl succeeds in its habitat partly because of which adaptation?

eyes, ears, and nostrils sit high on the head for watching while mostly submerged uneven ear openings and a facial disc pinpoint sounds in darkness translucent belly skin makes some internal organs visible tube feet grip surfaces and pull open a small gap in shellfish

Question 6 · multiple choice

A wildlife nursery prepares for a young Barn owl. Which developmental fact should guide the team?

females dig burrows in sand or ash for their eggs lays grape-like egg clusters on sheltered objects eggs hatch at intervals so chicks in one nest differ in size eggs hatch into leaf-eating caterpillars that later spin cocoons

Question 7 · multiple choice

A group-behaviour study follows a Barn owl. Which result should the team expect?

related females and calves live in matriarch-led family groups may travel alone, in families, or in playful social groups forms herds that may combine into enormous seasonal migrations pairs share nesting duties and may use the same site repeatedly

Question 8 · multiple choice

If Barn owl numbers fell sharply, which ecosystem service could be affected?

controls rodent populations around farms and grasslands prunes vegetation, moves soil, and redistributes nutrients limits some herbivore populations and provides leftovers for scavengers grazes vegetation and transports nutrients across dry landscapes

Question 9 · multiple choice

Which defence strategy is actually used by a Barn owl?

escapes underground or blocks a tunnel with its strong body uses camouflage, hissing, and a startling defensive sway curls, wedges into crevices, or digs down leaving only spines exposed rattles as a warning before using venomous fangs

Question 10 · true false

True or False: A barn owl city skyscrapers can substitute for cliffs and pigeons can substitute for wild prey.

True False