Barn owls are one of many species struggling right now.
91% of barn owls found dead anywhere that underwent a post-mortem were found to contain rat poison. Some owls would have died as a direct result of consuming rodenticides, but most contain sub-lethal doses, the ongoing effect of which is unknown.
A third of all young owls that fledge can be killed by being hit by motor vehicles as they hunt on roadside verges for their favoured prey.
The trend for farm outbuildings to be converted to housing and modern intensive farming practices that don’t provide much habitat for prey species like mice and voles, have only fuelled the decline in their numbers in recent years.

Everyone can do something to help barn owls. Leave a patch of rough grassland to grow wild thus creating habitat for voles, or erect a super-safe barn owl nest box, switch to non-toxic rodent control such as spring traps, and support charities working to conserve these beautiful owls.

The video below is a live feed from a site in North Yorkshire run by an artist, Robert E. Fuller. As barn owls are daytime hunters as well as nocturnal hunters, you may catch them in the nest boxes or sitting on the outside perches at any time.

About Robert E. Fuller: I am a British wildlife artist based in Thixendale, North Yorkshire, UK. I build ideal habitats to encourage wildlife into my garden and use nest cams to study their behaviour. These studies inform my paintings. I share the best of my video research on this channel for free. If you would like to support my work please consider purchasing my artwork which you will find on my website: https://www.robertefuller.com/
Many of the paintings are portraits of the creatures you watch here!

Robert’s artwork really is beautiful, so please do visit his website and see it.

Please feel free to recommend and share all discussions you enjoy.