Helping hand for owls after impact of bitter winters

Tawnies are resilient creatures, but rangers have reported that brood numbers are down this year.

However, unlike Barn owls, tawnies are not fussy eaters and will consume prey from voles to young birds and rats, helping their survival chances.

The Forestry Commission has been running an owl conservation scheme in Cropton Forest, near Pickering in North Yorkshire, for nearly 25 years.

Each spring, rangers pay a house call on 25 boxes to ring tawny owl chicks and check on their health as part of on-going conservation efforts.

Forestry Commission wildlife ranger, Paul Willett, has been involved in the project since its inception.

He said: “Most of the nest boxes are actually old plastic barrels once used to import mangoes from India and donated by a former Whitby company.

“Many of our woods are still quite young and trees don’t have the natural nesting sites like rotten cavities that can take 200 years to develop.

“Man-made nests provide an alternative and also importantly allow us to monitor the population.”

Tawny owls can live for over 20 years in the wild – the oldest specimen ever recorded in the UK was a 21-year-old male found near Malham in North Yorkshire, but average life expectancy is probably less than half this.

The birds are home-loving creatures and do not stray far from their birthplace, spending their life in the forest.

According to the RSPB, there may be nearly 20,000 breeding pairs in the country.

Mr Willett is also involved in the Vale of Pickering Barn Owl Conservation Network and the long-term prospects for this once endangered species is good.

Volunteers involved in the initiative have erected 400 boxes over a wide area across the Vale of Pickering, helping to reverse the bird’s fortunes.

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