In some years, we receive records of Barn Owls nesting in urban areas. The nests are almost always in the chimneys of derelict or disused buildings and another feature they have in common, mostly, is that although the nest site is along a busy street, there is often ready access to open countryside behind or beside the building.
This summer four new sites have been discovered and reported to us, all along busy streets in towns and villages in the Midlands. We'll keep the locations confidential but here are some images of the urban nests.
Above) Although within a busy main street near the centre of a small Midlands town, Barn Owls nested in the main chimney on the left, of this disused three story building. Although seemingly hemmed in by other buildings, there was a churchyard opposite which backed onto open countryside. Despite street lights, traffic, and all the noise and commotion of the town, they successfully fledged two young.
Above) Another nest site where Barn Owls successfully raised two young this summer. Open countryside in this case was right behind the small back garden of this disused building. The owls could easily commute to nearby hunting areas even though the nest was lit by streetlights and subject to the usual hustle and bustle of human activity.
Above) One of the more remarkable nest sites from this summer was in the chimney of a three story building with a busy shop and street below. This site was also noteworthy in that it had no immediate access to open countryside, being fully two streets of built-up area from the nearest fields, so the adult owls would have had to fly across rooftops and gardens to hunt.
Barn Owls are typically very shy of human activity, so it is great to see that these types of nest sites can be useful to them, despite being in busy urban areas. At all such sites this summer the owls were spotted by locals who were concerned for the nest and young and anxious they not be disturbed, so once again, members of the public have proven to be a great ally to the owls. In more than one case, appreciative observers would gather each evening to watch the owlets emerge and the adults arrive with food and there seems to have been no issues of disturbance or ill-effect for the owls. In fact the nests would seem to be pretty secure, and certainly less vulnerable to ground predators such as Pine Marten.
It will be interesting to see if this is a new development and that maybe urban-nesting Barn Owls are becoming more frequent. It could be that they are being reported more readily now, or that indeed the owls are developing more tolerance to human activity and exploiting nest sites that they might otherwise have ignored in the past.
If you know of a Barn Owl nest site - urban or otherwise - do please let us know.
