Hopes high for a recovery in barn owl numbers in Cumbria

Experts have being waiting nervously for this year’s breeding season after last year’s poor weather badly affected barn owls across Britain.

Sue Thurley, the UK Conservation Officer at the World Owl Trust, says: “The first chicks hatched at the beginning of May, which is very encouraging.  It may also mean we get a second clutch of eggs later in the season.”

The World Owl Trust monitors and rings barn owl chicks as part of a continuous research project carried out by the organisation to determine the distribution of breeding barn owl pairs.  They have consistently monitored 64 nest sites over the last four years in area ranging from Distington to the Furness Peninsula and across to Windermere and Coniston. 

Sue Thurley says:  “Breeding pair numbers were down by about fifty per cent in the 2006 breeding season compared with the 2004 and 2005 seasons. So a good breeding season in 2007 will be particularly important to help the number of barn owls to recover.”

Persistent rain and cold weather in 2006 will have affected the barn owls’ ability to hunt because their feathers can easily become waterlogged. There was also a significant drop in the vole population, the bird’s main prey species, which was also partly the result of bad weather.

A combination of these factors meant that some barn owls were too weak to have young last year.  Due to the deaths of many adult barn owls, some of the birds may also not have had a mate for the season.

The few barn owls that were able to breed will then have struggled to find food for their young.  In some cases the female may have moved from the nest if there was insufficient prey being delivered.

As well as the problems caused by the weather last year, there is a longer term problem, with barn owls being badly affected by habitat loss and a reduction in the number of possible nest sites.

As well as monitoring the progress of the birds, the World Owl Trust puts nest boxes up to give the birds a helping hand.  Since last summer 8 new nesting boxes have been put up in the south west of Cumbria.

Barn Owls are now so rare that they have special protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) - under which it is an offence to intentionally disturb these birds while they are preparing to nest or during the actual process of breeding.

Sue Thurley says: “This is an important time of year for barn owls.  So we would encourage anyone who thinks they might have owls nesting on their property to take extra care to ensure they are not disturbed.”  

Information about creating new habitats for owls and how individuals can help are available on the World Owl Trust website - www.owls.org.

The barn owl is a medium-sized, pale owl which lacks feather ears.  It can grow up to 35 centimetres in height and weigh up to 350 grams.   In flight its very long wings are obvious; its wing span is about 90 centimetres. It is usually a nocturnal hunter, though it may hunt by day in the winter.

The World Owl Trust promotes scientific research and habitat creation and restoration. As well as its work in the United Kingdom it is currently a leading player in 12 overseas projects.   Current research programmes include a study of Avian Malaria in snowy owls, owl taxonomy by DNA analysis and a European little owl survey.

The Trust is based at the World Owl Centre at Muncaster Castle near Ravenglass where visitors can see over 45 different species and sub-species, ranging from the biggest owl in the world - the European eagle owl - to the tiny pygmy and scops owls.

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