The barn owl’s many nicknames reflect its general appearance: a cream-colored front, tawny wings and back, and a well-developed facial disk. Other names including steeple owl, straw owl, barnyard owl, church owl and night owl are more related to the owl’s nocturnal behavior and preferred roosting locations. A third division of decidedly more imaginative nicknames, including ghost owl, hobgoblin owl, screech owl, and death owl, capture how the barn owl has been perceived by many cultures throughout time and throughout the world as a bad omen, or as Jeffrey Chaucer in the 14th century described the barn owl, as “a prophet of woe and mischance.”
The species name "alba" also refers to the color white. Other names for the Barn Owl have included Monkey-faced Owl, Ghost Owl, Church Owl, Death Owl, Hissing Owl, Hobby Owl, Golden Owl, Silver Owl, White Owl, Night Owl, Rat Owl, Scritch Owl, Screech Owl, White owl, Straw Owl, Barnyard Owl and Delicate Owl, Rat Owl
