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Barn owls thriving in canalside homes

9th Jul 2010

Barn owl nest boxes along the Aire & Calder Navigation have just undergone their annual inspections, with five separate broods of the bird found nesting, showing that this threatened bird is thriving in their canalside homes.

The boxes were installed by the Wildlife Conservation Partnership in collaboration with British Waterways between Knottingley and Goole to protect the plight of this threatened barn owl.

Originally installed with Entrust landfill tax funds, the boxes were inspected by Colin Shawyer of The Wildlife Conservation Partnership late last week and many young owl chicks were found nesting

The aim of the scheme has been to provide additional nesting options for the barn owls in order to preserve their population. The nest boxes are situated either on poles or in trees along the waterway corridor and in adjacent landowners fields situated about two kilometres apart.

As barn owls are a protected species (Wildlife and Countryside Act), British Waterways works alongside The Wildlife Conservation Partnership to carry out the annual maintenance and monitoring. They are licensed to handle the owls and ring them so biodiversity specialists can better understand the process by which the owl population is recovering.

30 barn owl boxes installed

This scheme saw around 30 barn owl boxes installed along the Aire & Calder Navigation ten years ago and are now undergoing their annual check. The ground vegetation along river corridors provides a perfect linear route for the scheme with ditches and canals acting as prime feeding areas and the populations are beginning to increase after a steady decline in the 1980s.

Phillippa Baron, senior ecologist for British Waterways, said: “The scheme is going really well and every year there have been successful breeding pairs. Owls face a number of threats including the cutting down of trees, the destruction of natural grasslands and barn conversions, so it’s really important we protect them. We also found some nesting kestrels so the scheme is clearly working well which is really satisfying.

“It is also important to manage the habitat close to the boxes as owls survival depends on their ability to secure food. Owls love voles – so we have made changes to our vegetation management to reduce the number of cuts to grassland areas in order to provide a better habitat for the voles, which in turn aids the owl population. The waterways are home to many protected species and they provide an ideal home and feeding ground.”

Colin Shawyer of the Wildlife Conservation Partnership added: “We are delighted that British Waterways are involved with us in a national project to secure the recovery of Britain’s barn owl population alongside canals and other waterways.”

Last updated: 09/07/2010

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