1. a privilege conferred on an individual, group, or company by a government: a franchise to operate a bus system. 2. a. the right or license granted by a company to an individual or group to market its products or services in a specific territory.
Since owls are birds of prey they need to hunt and kill other animals to survive. Their diet mainly includes fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, small animals and insects. The type of food really depends on the species of owl. For example, the Asian Fish Owl and the African Fishing Owl are highly specialized at catch fish while the barn owl is specialized in catching mice.
Barn Owls eat mostly small mammals, particularly rats, mice, voles, lemmings, and other rodents; also shrews, bats, and rabbits. Most of the prey they eat are active at night, so squirrels and chipmunks are relatively safe from Barn Owls. They occasionally eat birds such as starlings, blackbirds, and meadowlarks. Nesting Barn Owls sometimes store dozens of prey items at the nest site while they are incubating to feed the young once they hatch.