Wakefield Council in partnership
with the Wakefield Biodiversity Group
was awarded a grant from the SITA Trust
for the conservation of barn owls in
the Wakefield district. The Wakefield
Barn Owl Project started in November
2008. The project aims to increase the
range and population size of barn owls
in the Wakefield district of West
Yorkshire. The project will contribute
towards the wider national strategy and
project to conserve barn owls
throughout England.
The national project has created new
and extensive networks of rough, semi-
natural habitat and installed
artificial nesting boxes. The aim of
which is to produce habitat
connectivity and ensure the
availability of suitable nesting sites;
to aid the successful dispersal of
young owls from farm to farm and from
county to county.
The Wakefield project aims to form
an ecological link with this national
work by extending the installation of
artificial nesting boxes along the
river corridors and farmland of
Wakefield and the immediate surrounding
areas. The project will form another
link in the chain of interconnected
grassland habitats on farmland and
riparian networks with suitable
artificial nesting boxes; which is
proving successful for the recovery of
the barn owl throughout Yorkshire and
England.
In the UK and locally in Wakefield
the range and population size of barn
owls has rapidly declined; estimated at
a 69% decline in England since the
1930’s. Although still widely
distributed throughout England, the
species density is considered to be
critically low. It is therefore
included on the RSPB’s amber list of
species of conservation concern;
included in the Red Data Birds in
Britain; is a UK Biodiversity Action
Plan species (long list, old list) and
is a Wakefield LBAP priority species.
It is estimated that there are
currently only 3,000-5,000 breeding
pairs in the UK. In Wakefield it is
a scarce resident, with the population
estimated at less than 10 breeding
pairs.
The main conservation
issues for barn owls are degradation of
once prey-rich habitats in the face of
intensive agricultural practices and
lack of suitable nesting sites, due to
barn conversions and the loss of large,
hollow trees. This project will try to
address the latter issue in the
Wakefield by putting up barn owl boxes
in barns, upon the outside of farm
buildings and on trees. Key to the
success of the nest boxes will be
locating them in the correct place i.e.
next to suitable habitat type of an
appropriate size.
The ideal
habitat for barn owls is rough,
tussocky grassland with a deep litter
layer as this is where field voles (the
Barn Owl's main prey) are most
numerous. Grassland that lacks a deep
litter layer is of much less benefit to
Barn Owls - even if the grass is long,
(Barn Owl Trust). To breed successfully
a pair of owls and their young need to
find 10,000 small mammals a year, this
requires extensive lengths of grassland
(15km long and 3m – 6m wide) along the
banks of rivers, canals, streams,
ditches and field margins.
Installation of the barn owl boxes
will be carried out by the Wildlife
Conservation Partnership. Regular
monitoring and maintenance of the
artificial nesting sites will be
undertaken by Schedule 1 licence
holders from the Wildlife Conservation
Partnership.
It is hoped that the
project will also promote a greater
understanding of the decline and
conservation needs of barn owls to
landowners.
