Conservationists are ‘thrilled’ at the birth of three barn owl chicks on a nature friendly Co Down farm after a less productive 2021 for the protected species.
With just 30 breeding pairs of the vulnerable birds across Northern Ireland, Ulster Wildlife and RSPBNI have been working with landowners to try and halt their decline.
Ballycruttle Farm owner Dawn Stocking jumped at the chance to help, asking for nesting boxes on her farm after hearing the barn owls’ distinctive screech and seeing the ghostly-white bird close up around two years ago.
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“Move on 18 months [after they went up], I was putting my own chickens to bed one evening when daddy flew out of the box and over my head,” she said.
“Soon after, we then started to see the chicks poking their heads out and Katy from Ulster Wildlife and Mark from RSPB NI came to investigate further.
“This has been such a fantastic experience for us,” added Dawn. “The kids have loved being involved from putting boxes up, to seeing the parents fly out for food to watching the babies being ringed.
“We are so proud to be helping with the recovery of a priority species, working alongside Ulster Wildlife and RSPB NI, and would encourage other landowners to get involved.”
Barn owls are a priority species in Northern Ireland because of their decline over decades as a result of losing hunting habitat and nesting places.
Rodenticide use, road traffic, wet and extreme weather also threaten their survival. There are only a handful of known nesting sites for the iconic farmland birds across NI.
The three healthy chicks were found in July in a nest box installed at Ballycruttle Farm, outside Strangford, by Ulster Wildlife last winter. Two are female and the other male.
Senior Conservation Officer for Ulster Wildlife, Katy Bell, said: “Ballycruttle Farm has been working closely with RSPBNI to improve their farm for wildlife so when they contacted us last year about putting up boxes, we saw lots of potential for barn owls given the excellent hunting and nesting habitat.
“We were absolutely thrilled to hear a barn owl pair had settled into one of our boxes so quickly and even more excited when we heard the characteristic rasping and snoring sound of the chicks.
“Last year was tough for barn owls, with many nest sites failing, so this is welcome news for our tiny barn owl population and bodes well for the future as, hopefully, the chicks will go on to breed.”
Ballycruttle Farm is a haven for many different farmland birds and is part of the County Down Farmland Bird Initiative, an RSPBNI-led project within the Environmental Farming Scheme.
RSPBNI conservation officer Mark McCormick has been advising and supporting the farm for many years.
He said: “We are absolutely delighted to see all the hard work carried out by Ballycruttle Farm yield such positive results.
“The seed-rich habitats maintained on the farm provide an essential winter food source for birds like the endangered yellowhammer, and also ideal territory for the barn owl to hunt for small mammal prey.
“Areas of rough grass and impressive hedgerows enhance the barn owl hunting territory even further.
“With the addition of the nest boxes, you can see why these magnificent barn owls have decided to make Ballycruttle Farm their home to raise their young.”
The new chicks will not be alone, as four more fledglings were spotted on a Strangford farm and another at Mount Stewart, where its siblings were lost to predators.
If you have seen a barn owl or would like to discuss measures you can put in place to help them, please contact Katy Bell at Ulster Wildlife on 07816 065 736 or email barnowls@ulsterwildlife.org.
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