Barn Owl names – cherub or demon?

The Barn Owl was given it’s scientific name – Tyto alba – in 1769, by G.A. Scopoli an Italian doctor and naturalist (1723 – 1788). Tyto alba literally means “white owl”, from the Latin word for white: alba and the Ancient Greek onomatopoeic name for an owl: tyto or τυτο. “Onomatopoeic” means a word that sounds like the thing it describes, for instance in English we might call a Tawny Owl’s call a “hoot” and a Barn Owl’s call a “screech”.

The Barn Owl has lived in farms and villages for hundreds, probably thousands, of years and has been known by a huge variety of names over the centuries. Some Barn Owls live in old church towers and occasionally when people see one flying, white and silent, over a graveyard, they think of a ghost or an angel/cherubim. What would you think if you saw one?

Jumbled Name Puzzle!

Unscramble the letters to find some old English names for a Barn Owl:
– see the list of Old English names below for clues – and the bottom of the page for the answers.

1. AOTYBLAT :  Scientific Latin name for a Ghost Owl: _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ 
2. OCWLECSRHE :  This owl doesn’t hoot! _ _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _
3. HURIBCME :  Church Owls are little angels! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
4. YLFMKOEEOCWNAD :  An owl with a cheeky face! _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _
5. YOGMG :  It catches mice but it’s not a cat! _ _ _ _ _

Old English names for Barn Owls

Can you guess why people called the Barn Owl these names?

• Rat Owl
• Roarer
• Screaming Owl
• Screech* Owl
• Scritch Owl
• Silver Owl
• Stone Owl
• Straw Owl
• Ullet
• White Breasted Owl
• White Hootlet
• White Owl
• Woolert
• Yellow Owl

*Screech Owl used to be an old English name for Barn Owl – but only in Britain. It’s no longer used, because it’d be confused with the genus (or group of species) ‘Megascops‘ which are now known as Screech Owls – these are only found in the Americas – and are not related to Barn Owls!

* Printable puzzle pages available free for personal and educational use only.