Conservationists celebrate barn owl increase

The barn owl population on Teesside is on the rise, Tees Valley Wildlife Trust said

Volunteers are celebrating a rise in their local barn owl population.

Tees Valley Wildlife Trust said in 2025, the area it covers saw a 42% increase in the number of barn owls ringed, rising from 249 in 2024 to 354.

Colin Gibson, volunteer barn owl coordinator and a retired police officer, said he believed the increase could be down to increased habitat protection, improved nesting sites and favourable climate conditions.

The trust has been running the project for more than 12 years to try and improve the local population by building more than 400 nest boxes.

The Tees Valley Wildlife Trust owl project has been running for more than 12 years

The trust said man-made boxes were now essential for owls to survive because in recent years their natural nesting sites in old trees and derelict buildings had been lost due to ash dieback and old farm buildings being modernised.

Working alongside the Tees Ringing Group, eggs and chicks were counted and ringed with each owlet given a unique number to be able to track them.

The nest boxes were also often used by other birds such as tawny owls, kestrels, stock doves and jackdaws, the trust said.

Mr Gibson said although the breeding season was over for the year, volunteers remained active building new boxes and repairing old ones.