To the horror of surveyors today, a Barn Owl site in the roof space of a derelict cottage near Newmarket, Co. Cork – a site which has been continuously occupied by Barn Owls for twenty years or more – was found to be badly damaged by recent storms. The metal roof had been largely stripped by the violent gales, the peat roof exposed to the elements and collapsed into the building.
The site was found to be now almost useless to the owls as a nesting site as the missing roof sections would now allow access by cats, foxes and other predators. It seemed to be the end of the owls in that area, as there was no signs of the owls and there were no other suitable nest sites nearby.
The shattered remnants of the cottage where Barn Owls nested in the roof space for two decades. The old peat roof covered with corrugated iron sheeting had provided the perfect cavity for nesting Barn Owls (all photos: M.O'Clery).
However, at one site, about 3 km away, the Duhallow Raptor Conservation Project had installed a Barn Owl nest box in a modern barn. To date, there had been few signs of any owls at the box so there was only low expectations as it was visited and a ladder put up to access the box.
Amazingly, a pale male Barn Owl flew out, and inside the box was a female and four young chicks.
This bundle of feathers is the female Barn Owl brooding four young chicks which ranged in age from about three to ten days old. Four is a particularly good brood size for Barn Owls showing that the surrounding area has good hunting, and that the spring weather has been kind to the birds this year.
The female was found to have a metal ring GR68167 affixed to her leg, and this proved to be from an adult female Barn Owl which was caught and ringed by John Lusby at the very same cottage pictured above the previous summer.
The adult female Barn Owl, the metal ring visible on her leg.
The relocation of this female (and perhaps her male partner too) shows there is a very real value to the nest box project. Without the nest box, the barn they are now in would have had no suitable nest sites within, and there are no old or derelict buildings in the immediate area of the cottage suitable for nesting,
Instead of losing a valuable nest site to the area, by providing the nest box nearby, the birds have only had to move a few kilometres. They can hunt over much the same territory, areas with which they will long be familiar with and where they will have an intimate knowledge of the best hunting areas.
FOOTNOTE: The female Barn Owl in here was trapped at the cottage site in August 2013 and ringed. There is a video clip on the Duhallow Raptor website HERE showing the very same female, while John Lusby explains the wing moult and ageing of Barn Owls. This female was judged to be three years old, so is now four – ripe old age for a wild Barn Owl, and a true veteran.
Wing of the female Barn Owl today, at four years of age. Though the wing looks complete, there is one secondary feather growing. The outer primaries look worn, though her plumage is a little ragged from spending the past two months in the nest box, incubating the eggs and brooding the young.
