Long distance record for Kerry Barn Owl

A new record has been set for the longest recorded distance travelled by a juvenile Barn Owl within Ireland.

Unfortunately, the bird in question was found as a road casualty by Brian Hegarty on the 11th of February, on a dual carriageway just NE of Derry, in Northern Ireland. It was possibly to identify this bird as it had been previously fitted with a metal ring on it's leg. It turns out it had been ringed as a chick on the 10th of July 2015 by John Lusby, at a nest site near Farranfore, Co. Kerry.

Barn Owl chick, one of four from the nest box near Farranfore in July 2015 (M.O'Clery, under licence from NPWS).

As the owl flies, this is a straight-line distance of just over 350 km, though of course the actual distance travelled is likely to be considerably further. Either way, this is almost over twice that of any previously recorded movement of a juvenile dispersing Barn Owl within Ireland, so far.

The straight-line distance travelled by this young owl was about 353 Km.

The chick was one of four hatched in a uniquely designed nest box, one set on top of a chimney of a disused cottage. It was one of the first Barn Owl nest boxes installed in Co. Kerry (in 2009), and it has proved to be particularly productive, with chicks fledging from this site every year since.

Placed on top of the chimney of a disused cottage, the Barn Owl nest box is made of marine ply and roofing felt, and weighted down by paving slabs on the lid. It has survived some of the worst weather Kerry has thrown at it, though it needed some roof repairs in 2014 (M.O'Clery).

There are actually three nest boxes at this site, originally placed as an experiment to see which the birds might favour: one inside the attic of the cottage (accessible through the gable window in the photo); one high in the apex of the adjacent barn, and one on top of the chimney. While all have been used by owls for roosting, the 'chimney box' is the only one which has been used for nesting.

John Lusby, Raptor Officer with BirdWatch Ireland, returning a chick to the 'chimney box' after ringing, in 2012 (M.O'Clery).

Barn Owls are able to breed in their first year and, after their first winter, almost all will have dispersed and set up a home range from which they most likely will never leave. Thanks to the monitoring and ringing work we are learning about Barn Owl life histories including their dispersal patterns. The map below shows some of the Barn Owl recoveries recorded through this work with the average distance travelled by young birds from the nest being about 35 km. 

Ringing recoveries of Barn Owls in Ireland to the end of 2013.

Barn Owl chick, one of four from the nest box near Farranfore in July 2015 (M.O'Clery, under licence from NPWS).

Many thanks to Brian Hegarty for reporting the ringed Barn Owl.

All Barn Owl ringing is carried out under licence to NPWS and the BTO.

Day-flying Barn Owl

Although you will see documentaries with footage of Barn Owls gliding around meadows in sunlight, these will not have been filmed in Ireland. Rather, this is most likely to be in Britain where the presence of the Short-tailed Vole, which is active during the late afternoon, is one of the common prey items of the Barn Owls.

In Ireland, a day-flying Barn Owl is a much rarer sight and often a sign of a bird in trouble. This bird hunted for at least an hour over rough fields and bog, in mid-afternoon today, near Caherciveen. Chances are that, with the recent incessant heavy rain and strong winds, this bird was close to starving, and was forced to try and take advantage of a rare lull in the weather to hunt.

(with thanks to Annette O'Leary and Pat McDaid).

Barn Owl, near Caherciveen, 30th December 2015 (M.O'Clery).

Often, it is not long before a day-flying Barn Owl will attract the unwanted attention of mobbing crows. In the photo below, the owl is not in flight, but adopting a 'threat posture' by drooping both wings and holding its' head bowed in order to look larger and intimidate the nearby Hooded Crows.

Barn Owl with a nearby mobbing Hooded Crow (M.O'Clery).

Close-up of the threat posture of the Barn Owl (M.O'Clery).

See this video clip for more...

Day-flying Barn Owl, in flight, and threat posture (M.O'Clery).

The risk of this bird venturing out during daylight might well have paid off, as it was seen diving into tall grass after prey. Hopefully it caught something tasty.

Barn Owl diving into long grass for prey (M.O'Clery).

Detailed life history of a Barn Owl road casualty

A male Barn Owl was found dead along the Tralee Bypass on 1st September, the 10th to be reported there since the Bypass opened in August 2013 (see previous posts). 

BirdWatch Ireland have just completed a year-long survey of the Bypass with a view to offering mitigation measures along the 13.5km route to prevent, or lessen, the risk of future casualties along the route, and hopefully to introduce such measures into all future road projects in Ireland. The NRA have been working in close cooperation with BWI on the subject of Barn Owl road casualties and we hope to announce a major initiative on this in the near future.

The BirdWatch Ireland Barn Owl Project, dating back to 2008, has amassed a huge body of knowledge about Barn Owl nest and roost sites all over Ireland, and particularly in Co. Kerry, one of the strongholds of the species. The discovery of this bird illustrates the value of such knowledge and reveals a detailed life history of our recent male casualty.

Although we don’t know where this individual was hatched, our first encounter with him was when it was trapped and ringed at a known nest site just outside Tralee. He was ringed on 22nd June 2013 and was already adult, probably 2 years old. The photo below shows this male on the left, with his partner. 

Barn Owl male (left) and female, near Tralee, June 2013 (M.O'Clery)

The nest in 2013 was in a wall cavity in a derelict house, but they failed to breed that year, though both adults survived into winter, and in 2014 they moved nest to a high attic ledge in a different room in the same building.

Unfortunately, 2014 was a disastrous year for Barn Owls generally and they again failed to breed, as was the case at most other nest sites in Ireland. Although the pair were seen perched by the nest in early spring 2014, visits later that spring and summer revealed only a lone male screeching each evening in a vain attempt to attract a female, until the activity petered out in June. He was unpaired that summer, the female presumably having died around the previous March or April.

The male again in May 2015, now paired up and nesting again (M.O'Clery)

Better news in early 2015 by which time he had found a new partner, and again they moved nest, into a nest box in a nearby barn, which we installed in autumn 2014. He was photographed again, perched on a beam just beside the nest box, in April 2015 (above).

The stone barn in which the pair nested in 2015 (M.O'Clery).

5 chicks were found inside the nest box in early June, the first brood of 5 recorded in Kerry at that time. Another visit in early August found that 3 chicks had survived and were just about ready to fledge.

The five chicks in June 2015 (M.O'Clery)

He was found dead on the hard shoulder of the Tralee Bypass on 1st September. A sad end indeed for this veteran male. Birds older than three are a rarity in Ireland, and it’s quite possible this bird had already survived many hunting trips along the Bypass up until now, as his nest is only a couple of km away. 

His luck finally ran out.

More on this bird from June 2013 HERE:

There's also an follow-up post (posted: 5th May 2016) on how another male has replaced this bird at this site. Read about that HERE.

Head-bobbing Barn Owls

Barn Owl fledglings, 'head-bobbing', Dingle Peninsula, 28th July 2015 (M.O'Clery, filmed under licence from NPWS).

A short clip from a camera in Co. Kerry a few nights ago. Most nest sites now have chicks that are fledged, or nearly so. The four chicks at this site hatched in a nest box in an old farmhouse, but by now are able to fly short distances. Rather than waiting at the box for their next feed, they now await the adults return from the windowsill, eager to be the first to grab the next mouse or vole.

This clip is a good demonstration of the exaggerated ‘head-bobbing’ of young birds. Even though they look identical to adults at this stage, only juvenile birds do this, believed to be in order for them to better gauge distances to perches and other objects. The effect can be quite comical, but is all part of them learning to fly and hunt.

Within days these chicks will be venturing outside the building and starting to hunt for themselves, but the parents will continue to feed them at the house until the chicks move away. Some leave as soon as they are able, others linger around the nest site for a few more weeks.

One of the chicks on the windowsill of the old house during the afternoon (M.O’Clery, under licence from NPWS).

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.

Co. Kerry's 'famous five' Barn Owls

The first recorded brood of five chicks in Kerry for at least eight years was seen yesterday at a traditional site near Tralee. Many other nests in Kerry and elsewhere have four chicks, so the average brood size this summer is very high so far. 

Five or more chicks in a nest has only been recorded a handful of times before in Ireland (though it is regular in Britain), and is reflecting what seems to be an abundance of small mammal prey at the moment. Most sites visited have a surplus of voles and mice littering the nest. Perhaps the very good summer of 2014 followed by a relatively mild winter has allowed small mammal densities to remain high. The Barn Owls certainly seem to be benefitting.

Five Barn Owl chicks at a nest box near Tralee - the first of this size recorded in Kerry in many years, 26th June 2015 (M.O'Clery Under licence from NPWS).

Father of the five Barn Owl chicks. The male was roosting on a nearby beam, though as the chicks get older and more noisy and demanding, he will move out and roost elsewhere. Interesting to note, he is ringed... wonder where he came from? 26th June 2015 (M.O'Clery Under licence from NPWS).

A young Barn Owl chick at a nest box near Castlemaine, 26th June 2015 (M.O'Clery Under licence from NPWS).

Four Barn Owl chicks at a nest near Castleisland, caught on infra-red camera, awaiting their next feed, 18th June 2015 (M.O'Clery Under licence from NPWS).

Four chicks has become a familiar sight this summer at many of the nests which have been visited so far. The average for most years is usually around 2 –2.5 per nest. Let's hope the summer stays reasonably good, and most of these chicks will be in with a good chance of surviving until fledging.

Kestrels spread their wings

Young Kestrels around the country are either close to, or starting to, fledge from their nest sites. At this particular site in Co. Kerry this morning, three young Kestrels were already mastering the fine art of flying, though with mixed results. They are not straying too far from the nest site - a quarry cliff - because the two adults are still bringing prey deliveries to the nest site. All three youngsters are already masters of the air, swooping, hovering and diving with youthful exuberance. Landings are a little more haphazard however, with several wavering attempts needed for landings on rocky outcrops, and on several occasions, an undignified crash-landing onto a patch of heather.

Juvenile Kestrel, South Kerry (M.O'Clery, under licence form NPWS).

Above, a young Kestrel, having only just fledged in the last week or so, is already mastering the air. The overall shape is subtly different from adult birds, with a shorter tail and blunter-looking wings. The main flight feathers still have a little more growing to do.

Juvenile Kestrel, South Kerry (M.O'Clery, under licence form NPWS).

Above, a young Kestrel awaits food from the parents. The young are still making no attempt to hunt, though they must learn soon. Instead, they will rely on their parents for another few weeks, even once the family group moves away from the quarry nest site, though of course they will eventually have to learn to fend for themselves.

Juvenile Kestrel, South Kerry (M.O'Clery, under licence form NPWS).

Above, a young male Kestrel makes a clumsy attempt to land on a post above the quarry.

Juvenile Kestrels, South Kerry (M.O'Clery, under licence form NPWS).

Above, two of the three fledglings wait patently for one of the adults. When they do, there is much excited screeching as they compete to take the food item.

Adult female Kestrel, South Kerry (M.O'Clery, under licence form NPWS).

Above, the adult female Kestrel is looking a little ragged, after raising three hungry chicks. She will have another two or three weeks of hard work before the young start to disperse to find their own food.

Adult male Kestrel, South Kerry (M.O'Clery, under licence form NPWS).

The adult male is also looking a little worn. Both adults will start to replace their worn feathers in the late summer and autumn, when food is plentiful and the young have gone.

If you see any Kestrel family groups in the coming weeks, please do let us know.

Nest cam shows effect of rain

Our nest camera at a Barn Owl site in Co. Kerry filmed for an entire night. The action starts at dusk, around 11pm, and ends around 5am. Five feeds were delivered to the four chicks in the hour up to midnight, but then continuous rain began. There were no further feeds before dawn, and the chicks will now have to wait until the next night for more.

Four Barn Owl chicks await their feeding, 17th June 2015. Once the rain starts, prey deliveries to the nest ceased (J.Lusby, under licence from NPWS).

Barn Owls struggle to hunt in heavy rain, as their feathers are not waterproof. Several nights of persistent heavy rain can spell disaster for a hungry brood, but fortunately the following night was clear and calm and normal service was resumed.

A good breeding season for Barn Owls?

It's early days yet, but monitoring of nests in SW Ireland in recent weeks has shown healthy brood sizes and several new sites. An example of six broods examined in just the last week showed 4, 4, 4, 3, 4 and 4 chicks at each, a very high overall average. Of course, there is a long way to go yet, and fledging will not happen for another 5 or 6 weeks for even the eldest of these chicks, but so far this season, the signs are good.

Four Barn Owl chicks, about two to three weeks old, at a site in Co. Kerry (M.O'Clery, under licence from NPWS).

Two of four Barn Owl chicks, about two weeks old, at a new nest box site in Co. Cork (M.O'Clery, under licence from NPWS).

Another promising sign is that, at most of the sites examined, there has been a healthy surplus of food in the box with, in one case, seven Bank Voles lying on the floor of the nest site, ready for eating.