The Barn Owl a 'Key Species'
The Barn Owl is a stunningly beautiful bird with golden/buff coloured upper parts laced with silver grey and white under-parts. It has a distinctive white heart shaped face and when seen in flight the overall impression is of a large white bird. The face has a very special function, working in a similar way to our outer ears - collecting and directing sounds toward the inner ears, like a natural satelite dish. Their ear openings are situated inside the facial disc just behind the eyes. They are shaped differently and placed asymmetrically. As a result, sounds reaching the two ears are heard very differently. By analysing these differences the owl's brain automatically calculates the exact position of the sound-source. Foraging barn owls generally fly back and forth, quartering areas of rough grassland. The flight is buoyant and wonderfully graceful, the wings (spanning 85cm) are much bigger than the body. Although they sometimes nest in hollow trees and may hunt rough grassland field margins alongside rivers, woodland and around field edges, they are not woodland birds, prefering more open country.
In Northern Ireland its diet consists mainly of mice, shrews and young rats. Although daylight hunting does occur, dusk and dawn are the main peaks of activity. Barn Owls hunt mainly from the air, rather than from a perch, and have some amazing adaptations enabling them to find and catch small mammals hidden in deep vegetation in the dark. No creature can see in complete darkness but Barn Owl eyes are, on average, twice as light sensitive as human eyes. Anything small that starts to move is instantly noticed by the owl but would be unseen by most humans. They also have remarkably long legs, toes and talons enabling them to catch prey at the base of deep vegetation. The talons are extremely sharp and prey is thought to be killed by the action of foot clenching rather than by it's beak.
Barn owl numbers have never been high in Northern Ireland, as our country represents the edge of its north-western range in Europe. Historically low numbers are due to our rather damp, Atlantic-influenced climate. Barn owls find hunting difficult in wet weather and struggle to survive cold winters, however, there is no doubt that the population has plummeted in the last 40-50 years, leaving the species extremely vulnerable to extinction.
It's conservation in Northern Ireland is being directed by the Key Species Project
along with the formation and work of a Barn Owl Steering Group. The Ulster Wildlife Trust (UWT) is our lead partner in this project and The Key Species Officer can be seen on the video below introducing both the reasons for the decline and the conservation measures being carried out to raise awareness and increase the numbers of this beautiful bird.
A barn owl Species Action Plan (SAP) for Northern Ireland was published in 2006, detailing the work required to increase the barn owl population and expand its range. UWT is the lead partner in the implementation of this plan, and a working group has been established as a framework for achieving this.
Barn owls are very elusive birds and are extremely scarce, so there are huge gaps in our knowledge in terms of their ecology, distribution and behaviour. You can help to fill in some of these gaps - if you have seen a barn owl in your area or know of any active roost or nest sites, please contact Maeve Rafferty on 028 4483 3966 or you can email barnowls@ulsterwildlifetrust.org
This vital information will be used to identify hotspots or 'target areas' for barn owl work. Please be assured that records will be treated with sensitivity and can be kept confidential on request.