This barn owl's older than he looks...

Information obtained from a British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ring on the bird's leg has cast doubt over the widespread theory that barn owls typically only survive for three or four years in the wild. It revealed that the male bird had been ringed on the ings between the villages of Brompton-by-Sawdon and Sherburn in North Yorkshire as a fledgling on June 17, 1997, and is therefore 13 years old.

Pawl Willet of Thornton-le-Dale, ringed the bird originally. A wildlife ranger for the Forestry Commission, Pawl volunteers for the Barn Owl Conservation Network of the Vale of Pickering in his spare time.

He was amazed and delighted by news of its reappearance. He said: "It really is quite rare to find a barn owl of that age in the wild. I've been ringing birds for the BTO for 18 years and it's the oldest I've ever come across. Sometimes birds are ringed as adults, so we don't know their date of birth but this one was ringed as a fledgling.

"It's really quite a coup as barn owls face so many hardships in the wild. Around 3,000 are killed every year on the roads."

The owl was discovered by a member of the public and taken to Eastgate Veterinary Centre in Pickering before being handed over to local wildlife rehabilitator, Jean Thorpe of Norton, near Malton.

Jean said: "He was thin, probably due to the very hard weather we've had, and he may have had a whoosh from a car. He had no obvious injury and was left to rest with food in a warm box. I emailed the number from the bird's ring to Pawl, who was able to confirm its identity.

"It's wonderful that a wild bird has lived for so long. He is slowly recovering, eating well and looking relaxed. He will be returned to Pickering when the weather improves and he is strong enough."

Pawl revealed that the recent snowy and icy weather conditions would have made it hard for barn owls to find food: "They mainly feed on small rodents, like voles, mice and rats. Years ago they would have hardly needed to leave the farmyard to find food. But these days most farms use pest control methods to get rid of rats and mice and buildings tend to be locked up, so barn owls have been forced to go out into the countryside in search of food.

"When snow covers the ground they struggle because the voles and mice are beneath the surface of the snow so they can't see them. A barn owl will last for up to 25 days before it gets very hungry, but they don't necessarily have the sense to migrate down the Vale of Pickering, where the weather is more clement."

According to Pawl, the harsh winters of the early 1980s, when the area received a good covering of snow, decimated the barn owl population, particularly on higher ground. Although they remain a protected species, their numbers have increased dramatically in recent years thanks to milder winters and the efforts of Pawl and his fellow volunteers, who have put up more than 400 nest boxes across a vast area stretching from Stamford Bridge to Scarborough and reaching across from the North York Moors to the Yorkshire Wolds.

Pawl also credits Natural England's Environmental Stewardship Scheme with helping to transform the barn owl's fortunes. The scheme provides funding to farmers and landowners who effectively manage the environment on their land.

He said: "Things that have come from the stewardship scheme, such as the idea of creating conservation headlands on arable land and the planting of cover crops by gamekeepers, have been particularly beneficial for barn owls and, in fact, the entire eco-system.

"Farmers and landowners really deserve credit for that, we'd be lost without their support. I think the stewardship scheme has been fantastic."

Barn Owl Conservation Network website www.bocn.org