Meet the ghostly hunter haunting farms
BEWARE the screech of the ghost owl…it flies silently through the night, drinking the lamp oil out of churches, eating cats and bringing death to your family. Cook death owl stew to cure your whooping cough, or feed their eggs to your children to protect them from alcoholism in later life!
Of course, that’s complete nonsense. But we did used to believe some very strange things about the poor barn owl, didn’t we?
1 Yes, our subject for today is the much abused barn owl, the most widespread owl in the world. It lives on every continent except Antarctica. Of course, living in so many places brings its share of legends and nonsense. The barn owl is far more helpful than it has ever been harmful, even if their silent flight and huge black eyes make them a little creepy.
2Barn owls have historically been our most common species, a constant feature of British farmland. But with modern farming practices leaving little room for small mammals, there is no room for owls either. Our populations of barn owls are linked to the availablity of their favourite food, voles. They even lay eggs according to how well their local vole populations are doing. More eggs are laid in a bumper year, fewer when the rodents are scarce. 3There are now only about two nests for every 150 farms in Britain. That’s a shame as barn owls are not territorial and if there is enough prey they will happily share their space with others. 4Barn owls don’t build their own nests. They will make their home in any good ready-made hole in a tree or barn wall, so putting up a nest box on the sort of land they prefer can really help them. 5 They screech and hiss but don’t hoot, which probably hasn’t helped their reputation. They are one of the few owls that can hunt in total darkness. 6 Barn owls have one ear much higher than the other, giving them more accurate 3D hearing. 7 And lastly, our birds have a pure white breast. Those from Europe have a darker, more orange colouring, while in America the birds have little black spots.