The Barn Owl is on Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 under which it is an offence to take, injure or kill any wild barn owl, take or destroy eggs, or damage a nest while it in use.
Please help:
- Retain large old trees to provide nest and roost sites
- Retain permanent fields and margins of rough, tussocky grassland
- Retain old barns and stock shelters, or where they are to be developed, consider incorporating a loft space for breeding Barn Owls
- Encourage local authorities to reduce or cease the mowing of grass verges along quiet country lanes
Please contact us if:
- You have large fields of PERMANENT, ungrazed, tussocky or extensive grassy margins where the grass is maintained to a height of 20-40cm, and would like to encourage Barn Owls
- You would like the Shropshire Barn Owl Group to carry out a survey of your land to assess its suitability for Barn Owls, especially if you have created grassy margins or headlands under DEFRA's Entry Level or Higher Level Stewardship scheme
- You would like SBOG to construct, install and monitor a nestbox for £140
- You see Barn Owls hunting during the breeding season February to August or find any road casualties in Shropshire
- Send records of Barn Owls to us, the Shropshire Ornithological Society or online using the British Trust for Ornithology's BirdTrack
- Let us know when natural nest sites are threatened by development or decay
