Barn owls have disappeared from Switzerland

The Swiss Ornithological Institute is concerned about the barn owl.

Editorial team Wild beim Wild — 7 May 2016

During bird counts over the past three years, volunteers reported observing none or only isolated individuals of these nocturnal birds in certain areas. The reason remains a mystery.

The Swiss Ornithological Institute speculates in a press release that the barn owl may have suffered due to harsh winters or may have disappeared from parts of Switzerland. However, it is also possible that it was simply overlooked during the count. The institute is asking farmers to report any barn owls nesting on their properties.

From 2013 to 2016, the Swiss Ornithological Institute conducted a kind of population census of birds in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein, together with 3,000 volunteers. The new breeding bird atlas is intended to provide insights into the state of the bird world. The last such count took place 20 years ago.

A pair of barn owls can catch up to 3,500 mice just to raise six young. The pair consumes just as many small mammals during the rest of the year. No wonder the barn owl is a popular tenant. It prefers to nest in nest boxes on agricultural buildings, especially barns. It hunts its prey along extensively managed habitats such as fallow land, field margins, and wildflower meadows.

Yet the barn owl is rarely seen. It usually reveals its presence through its hoarse shriek in the night or through the traces it leaves behind: Fresh pellets beneath a nest box or a perch indicate that a barn owl lives on the farm. Pellets consist of the indigestible remains of prey animals, which the barn owl regurgitates.

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