Breeding barn owls have been found nesting in nest boxes installed at two of our council farms in September last year.
One farm has one chick in a tree box and another box on a different farm has three chicks. At another farm a barn owl is using the box to roost in but not breeding this year.
This is great news for barn owls as they are becoming less common due to loss of roost and nest sites. Changes in farming practices have also lead to lower numbers of voles on farms. Voles are a barn owl’s main food source.
Ali Quinney, Dorset Council’s biodiversity officer said:
“Our tenant farmers are delighted to have breeding barn owls on their farms.
“It is very encouraging that barn owls are already using the boxes when they have only been up since September. We are installing more boxes on five other county farms this year, working with Wildlife Windows, Dorset Wildlife Trust and volunteers from Kingcombe.”
Barn Owls have additional protection against disturbance whilst nesting. It is an offence to disturb a barn owl whilst it is building a nest or is in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young or to disturb a barn owl’s dependent young.
Our barn owl boxes are checked and ringed under a British Ornithology Trust ringing license. The information gathered from putting these specially designed rings on birds’ legs means we can understand more about them including their survival and the condition of the birds.
The boxes were made and installed by Jason Fathers of Wildlife Windows.
To encourage barn owls onto farms, tenants and landowners can manage the land with barn owls in mind. By keeping areas of grass uncut and rough edges this creates good habitats for voles which are their main food source.
