What were barn owls called before barns were invented?

Answer 1

Cave owls. Is this a serious question?

Probably just owls or even 'birds'

Primitive peoples had more to worry about than bird watching and animal classification.

Answer 2

Barnless Owls.

Answer 3

Good question. They have always, you may be surprised, been called barn owls and it was the barn that was named after them. For centuries the barn owl had nowhere to live and travelled the countryside living on the back of cows, in rain barrels or under the bridge. One day a wise European took notice of these nomadic birds and felt sorry for them. So he stayed awake all night and invented a great structure in which they could live. He stocked the loft with hay as to attract mice so that the barn owl would have something to eat. Lo and behold, it worked. The barn owl moved in and had a permanent residence. The wise inventor called it a 'hay house' at first as 'mouse house' tended to scare the ladies away and the inventor didn't get many dates. Soon, the idea of giving the barn owl a place to live became very popular with the ladies. His neighbors realized they had to compete and before you knew it, hay houses sprung up across the countryside because generally the ladies felt sorry for the poor barn owls living in rain barrels all the time. Eventually the hay houses evolved and the farmers maximized their use by moving in other animals in like cows, horses and chickens. The barn owl was content to share his house with them. However, having the biggest barn was no longer an attractive notion to the ladies with all these new animals mooing and stinking up the place. The hay house went through various name changes over the years such as 'cow crib, pig pad, and rooster booster.' But the shortest and easiest reference to the hay house was 'barn,' (usually making reference to the bird and not the building). In a popular vote in 1604, it was decided almost unamimously that this new style of building would be named after the barn owl, and was christened the 'barn.' Soon, other inventors designed new and exciting domiciles for other animals and honored them with names like 'chicken coop, dog house,' and 'fish tank.' Today, the barn remains one of the most successful inventions to give a homeless bird a house, and is still considered a great place to pick up 'chicks.'

Answer 4

Owls

Answer 5

they were called "I need to invent a barn and put this owl in it so that I can call this owl a barn owl"owls

Answer 6

Street owls?

Answer 7

Farmers cottage owls

Answer 8

Darn owls cos they just kept flying around and making a nuisance of themselves

Answer 9

Cold and lonely owls?

Answer 10

Dunno-but think they're called conversion owls nowadays!!