Barn Owls in Maine

As the northernmost state in the U.S., Maine experiences winters that limit the barn owl’s ability to maintain any but the rarest numbers. Mild winters may allow barn owls to survive for a few years, but severe winters marked by deep snow and sub-zero temperatures may wipe out most if not all of the barn owls in the state. Young barn owls dispersing northward may replenish the state’s few breeding pairs in mild years, but nonetheless, there are at best only a handful of barn owls in the state at any given time, making seeing or hearing one of these big white owls with their heart shaped faces a rare event.

In recent years the barn owl has been reported in small numbers only in the southern part of York County, the southernmost county in the state where the weather is milder than the rest of the state and marshlands provide good habitat.