Success for the Barn Owl Conservation and Breeding in the Howardian Hills project being led by the Howardian Hills National Landscape. The project is supported by experienced owl workers who have liaised with landowners to erect boxes at suitable locations, worked on existing boxes and undertaken nest box monitoring and owlet ringing. There will be community engagement too. The project is funded through the Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme, part of Defra’s Agricultural Transition Plan.
With their heart shaped faces, caramel back and wings, and pure white underparts the barn owl is a distinctive and much-loved countryside bird. Yet this owl, that has proven so successful at adapting to life alongside humans, has undergone significant population decline. One reason barn owl populations have struggled is that much of their traditional nesting habitat in hedgerow trees and traditional barns has been lost. Fortunately, barn owls will readily and successfully take to artificial nest boxes.
This project has connected experienced barn owl workers with private, public and commercial landowners to create a monitored nest box network for barn owls and people at the landscape scale in the Howardian Hills. To date 43 new boxes have been erected and 8 existing boxes refurbished across the area. When the boxes were checked earlier in the summer 15 of them had signs that barn owls had inhabited them, and seven had signs of breeding, with 25 eggs being laid. Unfortunately, the wet weather meant most of these did not hatch or failed. However, the amount of activity we have seen is very encouraging. Considering the boxes were only put up over the last winter we are happy with the results so far because it can take several years to see regular occupancy.
The project will help to rebuild the regional barn owl population; improve understanding of barn owl population dynamics and breeding success; and create a platform for future monitoring of barn owls for conservation purposes. It will help map the current and future distribution of barn owls and produce a clearer picture of overall barn owl breeding success.
