Barn owls: Chicks hatch in man-made nesting box for first time in NI
- Published
The two barn owl chicks hatched on the Ards Peninsula were ringed prior to fledging and will be tracked as part of wider conservation work
Northern Ireland's tiny barn owl population has been given a boost as for the first time, the birds have bred successfully in an man-made nest box.
Two female chicks hatched in an owl box on a farm on the Ards Peninsula in County Down during the spring - six years after the box was put up.
They are a welcome addition to Northern Ireland's barn owl population, estimated to be between 30-50 pairs.
They are sometimes called screech owls because of their ear-splitting call.
The parents are now believed to have laid a second clutch of eggs.
Camera trap
Farmer Michael Calvert put the owl box up to encourage the birds to breed.
The Ulster Wildlife Trust has supplied daylight and night footage of the two female barn owl chicks that hatched in the box on the Ards Peninsula this spring.
After spotting evidence that they were using it earlier this year, he got a licence to set a camera trap and got amazing pictures, external of the juvenile birds and their parents.
"It's been a joy to watch the birds grow, hear them screech and see them learning to fly," said Mr Calvert, who has won awards for his nature conservation work.
Protected species
The conservation charity, Ulster Wildlife, said the new chicks were great news.
The chicks are the first known barn owls in Northern Ireland to have been raised in a man-made nest box, according to experts from Ulster Wildlife
"Barn owls are in serious decline due to loss of suitable hunting habitat and natural nesting sites, such as hollow trees or old barns," said barn owl officer, Catherine Fegan.
The two chicks were ringed under licence by the British Trust for Ornithology before they learned to fly. They will be tracked as part of wider conservation work.
The barn owl is a protected species. It is illegal to disturb its nesting sites or nesting boxes.