12/03/2025
🦉Barn owl update🦉
Although there has been some concern about the empty nest box, we have noticed our resident pair disappear in previous winters, only to return ahead of the breeding season. We know they have an alternative roosting site somewhere, as both habitually desert the box every summer when the growing owlets become too demanding to live with. We hope to see the pair return by mid-March in order to start laying eggs by early April.
Barn owls can live for up to ten years, but their lifespan can be as short as five. This often depends on food availability, especially if the vole population they rely on crashes for some reason. As winter is still with us, the female in particular should be feeding up in preparation for breeding, which may have led her to hunt elsewhere. Although voles are the mainstay of their diet, animals must be adaptable and will search further afield if a food source dries up. Barn owls also prey on other rodents, small birds, insects, and frogs, which are themselves breeding at this time of year and relatively easy to catch.
So please keep watching, and let's all hope for their speedy return to the nest box. 🙏 👉
Get an insight into barn owl family life via our wildlife we**am at Lorton Meadow nature reserve
