Last week I gave you this mystery skull to have a go at identifying:

I suspected this one wouldn’t be too much of a challenge, and I wasn’t mistaken.

There were some great cryptic clues, ranging from Chris Jarvis’ references to a charming Jill Tomlinson book, to Adam Yates’ reference to the genus name and some possible members of that genus with names reflecting their habits/habitats:

Well when it grips its prey it certainly has a tight toe, but does it hang out in agricultural storage buildings or among the Poaceae?, I cannot say.

With “tight toe” being Tyto and the options being between Barn Owl and Grass Owls. This is one that hangs out in agricultural buildings – the Barn Owl Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769).

Barn owls have a distinctive headshape – longer than other owls, with a little bump on their forehead. However, I have to admit that I’m not familiar with the skulls of any of the Tytonidae species, and I’ve found it tricky to find good reference material online. If you know of any resources out there, I’d love to hear about it!