Barn Owls

 If you have seen a pale shape flying low over the hedges and fields in the late afternoon or evening, then you can be pretty sure that you’ve seen a Barn Owl, Tyto alba, out hunting for food.  One of our most widespread native owls, their white underwings and breast make them a dramatic sight at any time of day. 

Barn Owls have long been part of the mythology of our countryside, and their plethora of local names attest to this.  Monkey-faced Owl, Ghost Owl, Church Owl, Death Owl, Hissing Owl, Hobgoblin or Hobby Owl, Golden Owl, Silver Owl, White Owl, Night Owl, Rat Owl, Scritch Owl, Screech Owl, Straw Owl, and Delicate Owl are some of the names they are called, some more imaginative than others.

Many of these names link back to their appearance, others to the hissing and screeching sounds they make, or their association with their traditional nesting sites in barns [hence Straw Owl] and in churches and churchyards.

Nowadays, with access to some of their customary nesting sites reduced, a good proportion of barn owls can be found using nesting boxes provided for them, usually attached to trees that provide shade and where the fledglings can make use of the nearbybranches.  Unfortunately, these boxes are also very attractive to Magpies, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves and of course, the ubiquitous Grey Squirrels!

We’re lucky here in Norfolk; although Barn Owls are found all round the world, they thrive best in areas of lowland farmland, whether pastoral or arable, and so in the UK they reach their greatest densities in East Anglia, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.  No one knows quite how many Barn Owls are breeding in the UK, but a common estimate is around 9,000 pairs, well up from the 4,000 pairs estimated in the 1980s and 1990s.  Their decline in the 20th century was due in part to the use of DDT, until it was banned in 1984 following the publication of Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring.  Since then, sustained efforts by wildlife groups and volunteers have helped the owls to increase their numbers back to earlier levels.

Barn owls are monogamous and will mate for life; their courtship is an important part of bonding, using preening and cheek-rubbing to demonstrate their commitment.  Prior to mating the male brings food for the female, increasing her weight until she reaches breeding condition, when she will start to lay eggs every 2-3 days.  If there is insufficient food available and she is unable to put on enough weight, no eggs will be laid.

The male moves out of the nest once eggs are laid, although he continues to supply food to the female.  She starts incubating as soon as the first egg is laid, and so after a month or so, the eggs hatch every 2-3 days, in the order they were laid.  This asynchronous hatching, common in UK raptors, produces chicks that may be as much as 2 weeks apart in age, depending on the size of the clutch.  In times of fluctuating food supply, the older chicks will inevitably do better, and it is not uncommon for younger chicks to die and be consumed by their parent or siblings. 

For the next six weeks, the owlets grow bigger, get fluffier, put on feathers, and start to explore the environment near their nest.  Once all the owlets have hatched, the female will start to leave the box for longer periods as she joins her mate in hunting for food.  The Barn Owls’ food of choice are Field Voles, found in rough grassland, but they are opportunistic feeders and will take Mice, Shrews, Rats, amphibians, reptiles and even insects.  They regurgitate the skin and bones of their prey in pellets, and dissection of these has confirmed that around 60% of their diet consists of voles.

Once able to hunt for themselves, the youngsters will leave the nest area and set up in their own territory, ready for the cycle to start again the next year.

August 2025

Forncett Nature Matters will be holding an event all about Owls on Friday 10th October (doors open 7pm) in the Village Hall.