Barn owls 'threatened' by new legislation

Barn owls, red kites and corncrakes could be killed as invasive species under the Infrastructure Bill, claim experts from the Zoological Society of London.

Twenty four experts from the Zoological Society of London and other organisations including the Natural History Museum and University of Oxford, made the warnings in an open letter to the Government about the potential dangers of the bill, which is published in the journal Nature.

Read more about this insanity here: Daily Telegraph 

Barn Owls dying from Rat Poison

The barn owl used to be a common sight in the United Kingdom, but now the birds have become increasingly endangered. One of the biggest causes of barn owl deaths is rat poison - and the government isn’t doing everything it could to help them.

To get rid of rats throughout the United Kingdom, farmers and civil servants frequently use rodenticide. But the rats aren't the only animals who suffer: animals that eat rats, including barn owls, are also poisoned. In 2010, 91% of the dead barn owls in a contaminated area had been exposed to rat poison, and that number just keeps growing.

Kestrels, red kites and other birds of prey have also died in huge numbers from ingesting rat poison.

These poisons should be used as a last resort, not first choice, and they should only be used by licensed, trained pest control officers. DEFRA, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should introduce proper regulation on rodent poisons - before it’s too late to save barn owls.

Although not yet fully quantified, poisoning may well be the number one threat to the species.

Barn Owls Under Threat

Alarming figures have been published by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) recording a 280% increase in reports of dead Barn Owls in March, at the start of the breeding season. Many had starved. According to the Barn Owl Trust this has been the worst breeding season for more than 30 years. This catastrophic fall in numbers follows a series of cold and wet springs.

1,234 breeding sites across Devon are monitored every 10 years. Of 276 sites checked so far this year, barn owls are nesting in seven and only four sites have young. West Sussex normally has up to 55 nests but only five have been found this year.

The fantastic weather in March 2012 meant that owls started breeding earlier, but then in June the rain started and didn't stop. This prevented adult birds hunting and many young birds starved. In some cases entire broods of owlets were found dead in the nest.

Jeff Baker of the BTO said: "Barn Owls can sustain one or two years of poor breeding performance, but we don't want another very cold spring, or very wet one".

It is hoped that these icons of the countryside will be able to recover.