Most widely distributed owl

The owl species with the greatest distribution range is the common barn owl Tyto alba, which has a near-global distribution estimated by the IUCN to cover 63,300,000 square km. It occurs throughout almost all of Europe and most of Africa (but is absent from Fennoscandia, Malta, and the Sahara principally), the whole of the New World, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and many Pacific Islands. It is entirely absent only from Antarctica. In recent times, some authorities have split off the New World barn owls from the remainder as separate species, as well as elevating several Old World subspecies to the level of species, thereby greatly reducing the total distribution area of Tyto alba, but these taxonomic measures have not as yet been widely accepted.

Although it is commonly considered a sedentary species, in certain areas of its immense distribution range the common barn owl has been recorded travelling considerable distances. Some of the greatest distances travelled have occurred in Africa, where individuals will fly as far as 1,000 km when journeying from Senegambia to Sierra Leone in West Africa.