Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

Cheshire, England - September 2006

Although a cosmopolitan species, the Barn Owl is predominantly a tropical species and only extends its range into temperate regions in Europe and North America. The British population are the most northerly breeding Barn Owls in the world. Consequently they are very sensitive to harsh winters and find it hard to find enough prey to survive during periods of prolonged snow cover.

Despite numerous 'doom and gloom' reports in the national press during 2006, their population has been relatively stable over the last 10 years. Their breeding success is highly dependent on the availability of rodents. Their lack of breeding success this year is more due to a shortage of voles rather than a real population crash and there is no real basis to the claims that the Barn Owl will soon be extirpated from Britain in the near future.