Yorkshire's barn owls need your support. 

Barn owls are one of our most loved wild birds, but they need help. Between the 1930's and 2000' barn owls declined by 70% in the UK, leaving only 4000 pairs. This drastic decline was caused by: loss of the grasslands over which they hunt, intensifying farming practises and use of chemicals which kill the field voles and other small mammals on which barn owls feed; loss of their nesting sites from barn conversions and the removal of old hollow trees. 

They need your support right now.

The situation for barn owls gets worse. The recent run of harsh winters has seen barn owls decline even further - the prolonged cold last spring saw a 280% rise in the numbers of dead barn owls reported to the British Ornithology Trust (BTO). This difficult time also meant that many adult owls were in poor condition for breeding. Last year was as the worst barn owl breeding season for more than 30 years, and it has left these beloved birds in dire need of help.  

 

We know what barn owls need for survival

 

Barn owls flourish in areas where there are large areas of high quality grassland supporting high numbers of small mammals, and nesting sites where they can raise their young.  But, as 97% of the UK’s rough grassland and hay meadows have been destroyed and traditional nesting sites have been lost, barn owls do not have the habitat that they need for survival.

 

How your support will help ensure that barn owls get what they need

 

We know barn owls have been spotted at many Trust nature reserves, so we want to make sure that these grasslands are in the best possible condition to help boost owl breeding success. We will be putting up barn owl boxes and creating areas of rough grassland where possible to encourage healthy populations of small mammals. Hay meadows are also important for barn owls and we carefully managed these meadows with late hay cuts and sensitive grazing. We will be working on new sites and areas of land to create and improve barn owl habitat, for example at Skerne Wetlands and the new extension at Potteric Carr.

 

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