Between 1932 and 1985 the barn owl population of the
British Isles fell by 70% and by 1985 was down to just 4000
breeding pairs. In response to this numerous Barn Owl Species
Recovery Areas were set up in Britain in 1990 to address this
disastrous decline. One of these recovery areas was identified at
this time in the fenland landscape to the east of Peterborough
City. The project which followed is a partnership between
Peterborough City Council and the Wildlife Conservation
Partnership.
Barn owls are among the most protected birds
in the Country being listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and
Countryside Act. As such it is an offence not only to kill, injure
or take any wild bird or take/destroy its eggs or nest but also
intentionally or recklessly disturb a barn owl while it is
preparing to nest, at a nest with eggs or young or to disturb
dependant young. As such a special licence is required from Natural
England to undertake nest inspection and surveys of breeding barn
owls which would otherwise result in a criminal offence being
committed.
Barn owls can live in a variety of different
landscapes but are most often found in areas of open grassland and
woodland edge and will occupy home ranges extending 2 km from their
nest location during the breeding season increasing to up to 5 km
over winter. Within these home ranges two things are essential to
barn owl survival, food and nesting opportunities. In the
Peterborough recovery area work with local landowners, farmers and
managers has been critical for the creation of feeding habitats
along field margins and drainage ditches. These are well placed for
the less intensive forms of management which benefit field voles on
which the barn owls feed.
Barn owls will normally nest between March and
August in cavities in agricultural buildings, trees and barn owl
nest boxes. In years when food such as field voles is plentiful the
owls can raise up to two broods of chicks. In years when food is in
short supply, about one 1 in every three, breeding success may be
very low. It is therefore not unusual for a nest site to be
unoccupied in some years. In contrast to many other parts of the UK
the Peterborough recovery area still has some barn owls nesting in
agricultural buildings; however the majority of these are in
purpose-built barn owl nest boxes which have been provided by the
project.
Once habitats for feeding and nesting are taken care of there
are still a number of threats to barn owl survival. These include
traffic mortality from high speed roads, typically roads with
speeds of 50mph or higher. Other factors can include the denial of
feeding grounds by snow cover in the winter months as barn owls
need to feed regularly at all times of year and will only survive a
few days without food.
The Peterborough Barn Owl Species Recovery
Project was initiated by Peterborough City Council in the early
1990s with the installation of a small number of nest boxes
followed by monitoring to assess their use by barn owls. Since the
recovery project was started the number of boxes has gradually been
increased so that now the recovery area has 77 boxes. This along
with improvements to feeding habitats has allowed the population of
barn owls to expand from just 5 pairs to 65 pairs over the course
of the project so far. As such the project in Peterborough is
acknowledged as being one of the most successful barn owl recovery
projects in the UK, holding one of the highest population densities
of this species.
In terms of public benefit this can be
summarised by saying that prior to the project, residents in and
around Peterborough would have been very lucky indeed to see this
charismatic bird of prey at all. Now barn owls can be seen
regularly throughout the fens area and even as far into the city as
the football ground car park!
If you would like to know more about this
project please contact the City Council’s Wildlife Officer.
Wildlife@peterborough.gov.uk
01733 453400 or the Wildlife Conservation Partnership. colinshawyer@aol.com
01582 832182.
References:
The Barn Owl in the British Isles, its past,
present and future. Colin Shawyer 1987.
Site Mitigation for Barn Owls. Colin
Shawyer. Journal of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental
Management, December 2009.