Great news for Barn Owls in Co. Kerry

Some wonderful news for the Kerry Barn Owl population this summer...

38 active Barn Owl sites have been recorded in Kerry so far this year - a new record for the county. Of those 38 sites, breeding has so far been proven at 25 (only 18 sites had confirmed breeding last year, 2014).

Three Barn Owl chicks in a nest box, the eldest (front right) now close to fledging, near Dingle, 27th July 2015 (M.O'Clery, under licence form NPWS).

Just over half, 13 nests, are now in nest boxes, a fantastic reward to all the people involved in making and installing them.

Brood sizes are all yet to be confirmed but, so far, are as follows:

2 chicks (2 sites)

3 chicks (5 sites)

4 chicks (5 sites)

6 chicks (1 site)

Only one site has been known to fail (for reasons unknown) and one, with three chicks, has been predated (most likely by a Pine Marten).

So, of all known nest sites, where chicks were recorded, the average brood size is 3.36 - considerably higher than all previous years of the Barn Owl study, started in 2008. In most years, the average was around 2.25 to 2.5 chicks per nest.

A nest box near Caherciveen had lain entirely empty in the four years since its' installation, so it was quite a thrill to find this single chick present in mid-July 2015. It is already adult-like, with just traces of white down around the thighs. It is quite possible this bird had older siblings which had already left the nest box, so we can only record the brood size as 1+. We'll make sure to visit it earlier next year! (M.O'Clery, under licence form NPWS).

Video from the castle

Cramped quarters! There are four young Barn Owls in this relatively small cavity in the wall of a castle in Co. Kerry (M.O'Clery, under licence from NPWS).

Some video footage from an infra-red camera installed close to a Barn Owl nest, in a castle in Co. Kerry (with thanks to Crossing the Line Films). You can see the video full-size by clicking the 'four-arrows' icon on the bottom right of the video.

The first short clip is from the night of 16th-17th May this year. Four chicks are in the rather cramped nest site, a wall cavity in the castle walls. The smallest chick got no food on the first night of filming, a night of heavy rain which prevented the adults hunting. On the second night - calm and dry - the three eldest got a steady supply of food until about 3am when the female arrived and sought out the little one to feed, and it got three more feeds before dawn.

Barn Owl nest site, May 2015, Co. Kerry (Filmed under licence from NPWS, copyright CTLFilms).

The second longer clip shows the same nest site almost six weeks later. The four chicks have all survived and are thriving. There is barely room for them at the nest entrance as they await food deliveries from the adults which arrive almost every 10 to 15 minutes throughout the night. The chicks are being very well fed.

Interesting to note that one of the adults in the video below is ringed. We have been unable as yet to read the ring number, or re-capture the adult, but it would be fascinating to see from where it came.

Barn Owl nest site, July 2015, Co. Kerry (Filmed under licence from NPWS, copyright CTLFilms).

Barn Owl records tumble in record year

We've already seen the discovery of Ireland's oldest wild Barn Owl, in Co. Kerry this week (see post below).

We've also witnessed the first brood of five chicks for Co. Kerry, at a Barn Owl nest near Tralee last week. Only the third such instance ever recorded in Ireland.

And yesterday, another record was broken with the discovery of the first brood of six chicks for Ireland, at a nest site near Castlemaine, Co. Kerry.

The six Barn Owl nestlings, near Castlemaine, 11th July 2015 (M.O'Clery under licence from NPWS).

The location of the nest site, near Castlemaine, July 2015. The derelict two-story country house is so covered with ivy that it is difficult to discern it as a building at all at any distance. There is a Barn Owl nest box high in the rafters of the central part of the building (M.O'Clery under licence from NPWS).

Ringing of chicks in Co. Kerry in recent days has seen brood numbers at Barn Owl nests well above average, and may prove to be a record high too. We'll keep you posted...

Ireland's oldest wild Barn Owl

The oldest wild Barn Owl ever recorded in Ireland was discovered yesterday, 11th July.

Male Barn Owl, near Castleisland, Co. Kerry, 11th July 2015 (M.O'Clery under licence from NPWS).

While monitoring and ringing at Barn Owl sites in Co. Kerry, John Lusby re-trapped this adult male Barn Owl at its' nest site near Castleisland, Co. Kerry. The bird was already ringed and, when the database was checked, it revealed that he was ringed as a nestling in July 2007 at a nest near Tralee, about 13km away. 

At seven years of age, this makes it the longest lived Irish Barn Owl yet discovered.

The nest site of the veteran Barn Owl. There were four chicks within (M.O'Clery under licence from NPWS).

One of his offspring, a young male Barn Owl from the same nest, 11th July 2015 (M.O'Clery under licence from NPWS). 

Nesting has been successful at this site for at least 3 of the last 4 years, and if the same male was involved each year, he has produced a minimum total of 11 chicks in that time. Not only a veteran, but a prolific one at that...

See also this post HERE about how long wild Barn Owls can live.