Another Barn Owl has been found dead along the Tralee Bypass - the fifth such casualty in less than a year. Three were found dead along the new road shortly after it opened in October 2013, which resulted in the National Roads Authority commissioning a detailed, year-long Barn Owl survey of the road and the surrounding area.
Barn Owls are particularly vulnerable to collisions with vehicles, especially on wide, fast roads such as National routes and motorways (Photos: M.O'Clery).
A detailed buildings survey completed in July and August 2013 showed that there are 12 active Barn Owl sites within 5km of the route, and it is possible that several of the owl fatalities have come from some of these sites. However, the last two casualties, recorded during a weekly road casualty survey of the route, were both young birds, hatched in summer 2013, and could also have come from further afield as they dispersed away from their nest.
The weekly survey of the route will be conducted for a full year and aims to record each and every bird and mammal road casualty. This information will be mapped and correlated to the road characteristics, such as embanked (raised) sections, habitat and proximity to known sites. It is hoped this will help to locate the highest risk areas for Barn Owls and go toward promoting mitigation measures, such as screening, in the near future.
This particular individual was a young male, and would have hatched in spring 2013 (Photo: M.O'Clery).
If you find a dead Barn Owl along a road anywhere in Ireland, please report it immediately to this email address
If you find one along the Tralee Bypass, or elsewhere in Co. Kerry, please email this address
