Barn owls growing in number in UK

[FfFfFfFF 58,062]

Monitoring nests is crucial because it provides the BTO with information about where the species is doing well. Before climbing the ladder to peer into the nest, the Flowers scraped a stick around the bottom of the tree to let the barn owl know it had visitors. Barn owls are generally gentle, unlike tawny owls which can be aggressive. 

“Our owls are not yet nesting and were not at home when the Flowers visited. They might not have decided about their partners, but the presence of pellets in a number of boxes suggests they are thinking about it.” “They’re as fussy as we are, they won’t take just anybody,” says Lynne.

Lockdown may be good for barn owls – reduced noise from traffic may allow them to hunt more efficiently and there will probably have been fewer road deaths. “Lots of barn owls are killed on the road because they’re not looking – they’re listening and looking at the ground,” says Lynne.

Owls look quite angelic but they live a savage existence, never far from hunger. They incubate eggs as soon as they lay them so the birth of their chicks is staggered; in tough years only the oldest will survive. In times of plenty the whole brood flourishes. 

Barn owls are modern families. “We’ve found that a pair might become quite loyal to a box and while they’re pairing up and mating, they’ll be in the box. If a female starts laying, the male will often roost somewhere else,” says Lynne. 

Through an army of dedicated local volunteers, Sawyer’s ambitious targets have been smashed: barn owl numbers have nearly tripled and he doubts they will be able to climb much higher. Up to 80% of barn owls now nest in man-made boxes. “If all those boxes fell down we’d probably see extinction. I don’t know of any other species that is so reliant on one component of their habitat – a nest box – for their survival, and that’s all done by people,” says Sawyer.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/11/barn-owls-are-back-in-growing-numbers-and-for-once-its-thanks-to-humans-aoe

[Brecht 7]

JK Rowling is hiding the Hogwarts letters from a little trans kid so the owls have to step it up, what else is new?