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Bringing back Barn Owls

Since the 1950s, the Barn Owl population has suffered from the loss of hedgerows and small woodlands and the trend for turning old barns into houses. With the disappearance of these habitats of the small mammals that are the bird’s staple diet, Barn Owls numbers crashed, reaching an all-time low in the late 1990s.

Barn Owl flying from nest box
Barn owl flying from a nest box

As a low flying bird, the remaining population has been further devastated by the increase in motor traffic and trunk roads cutting across its hunting grounds. The Barn Owl is now a protected species and can only be handled by trained licensed people who now keep track of breeding pairs.

In 2004, Northumberland National Park's then Species and Habitats Officer, John Steele, came up with a plan to tackle the decline in Barn Owls in Northumberland by finding suitable natural nest sites for these beautiful native birds amongst the environmentally-conscious farms of the National Park.

High quality nesting boxes would be constructed by a local contractor and positioned in areas that provided sufficient space to feed and raise a family of chicks, and would offer additional roosting sites which are also important if barn owls are to be attracted to an area.

Friendly farmers and landowners were essential to this project, and the first nesting boxes were given sheltered sites by several farmers in the Coquet Valley. In spite of their busy lives, those involved found themselves increasingly engaged by the lives of their lodgers, and delighted when new chicks were successfully fledged.

Today, the Barn Owl movement has spread to other farms in other valleys in the National Park and the number of chicks raised is increasing every year. It has not all been plain sailing though, and you can read about the ups and downs of our Barn Owl groups by downloading their newsletters below.

If you’d like more information about Barn Owl conservation, visit www.barnowltrust.org.uk.

Bringing back Barn Owls

Newsletters