Genetic study reveals barn owls reached Americas via Caribbean

A new phylogenomic study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B has overturned long-held theories regarding how barn owls colonized the Americas. For decades, biologists believed these birds migrated via northern land bridges, such as the Bering Land Bridge connecting Siberia and Alaska, or through northern Atlantic landmasses.

By sequencing mitochondrial and nuclear genomes from 68 historical specimens, including fossils and museum skins dating back to 1876, researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History determined that the birds instead crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Eurasia. The genetic data indicates that the Caribbean served as the initial settlement point and the center of the species' diversity in the Western Hemisphere.

From the Caribbean, the owls eventually spread across both North and South America. The research also noted that barn owls reached the Galápagos Islands on two separate occasions and provided insight into extinct, much larger Caribbean owl species.