Barn Owl Survey – Field & Nest site Verification

The Barn Owl is probably the most iconic bird of the countryside. Barn Owls are known as the ‘farmers’ friend’ as they keep the rodent population down. However, since the loss of their habitat due to agricultural intensification in the 1990’s and more cars on our roads numbers dwindled dramatically. Since the introduction of the stewardship schemes and people’s awareness in the use of rodenticides around farm buildings the numbers are again on the increase but are still at a vulnerable level.

Barn Owls their eggs and nest are protected under by UK law under the following act:

Wildlife & Countryside Act (as Amended) 1981: Schedules 1, 3 & 9.

To summarise, you would be breaking the law by;

intentionally kill, injure or take Barn owls
intentionally take, damage or destroy a Barn owl’s nest while it’s being used or built
intentionally take or destroy a Barn owl’s egg/s
possess, control or transport live or dead Barn owl, or parts of them, or their eggs
sell Barn owls or put them on display for sale
use prohibited methods to kill or take Barn owls

As stated, Barn owls are listed as a schedule 1 bird which provides further protection. Additionally it is an offence to:

disturb them while they’re nesting, building a nest, in or near a nest that contains their young
disturb their dependent young

To determine whether Barn owls are present on your site a four step survey approach is carried out;

Stage 1: Desk Study: to assess the likely status of barn owls present in the area of interest.
Stage 2: Scoping Survey to identify and record those features of the landscape which are broadly suited to barn owls.
Stage 3: Field Survey to determine which of the features identified in the Stage 1 survey offer potential nest sites, roost sites and habitats for foraging and movement.
Stage 4: Nest site Verification Survey to confirm which of the potential nest sites identified in the Stage 2 survey are actively used by barn owls for breeding.

If Barn owls are found on the project site then mitigation procedures will take place and will be included in the report. Please note that the mitigation measures take place before development has even started, including site clearance.