Regular readers of this blog may have noticed a lack of Barn Owls being admitted to our Raptor Hospital in recent years. Since 2020, we have have relatively few Barn Owls brought to us, and last year they were noticeably absent for most of the year.
We don’t know the reasons behind this, as our own nest box monitoring locally was curtailed during this period due to Covid and volunteer availability. However, the first few months of 2023 has already seen more Barn Owls admitted than the whole of 2022, so hopefully whatever population blip the local Owls were experiencing is now over.
Whilst we obviously don’t want any birds to need our help, it is a good indication on what the local population is doing, with increasing numbers of Buzzards being admitted in recent years corresponding to increased sightings across the area.
Here are the Barn Owl cases we’ve had so far this year!
Pin-Wing
This Barn Owl was successfully operated on to fix the broken wing.
This Owl was found with a broken wing, which we were able to successfully operate on thanks to Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown. After a few weeks in recovery, we are very pleased with how the wing has healed and are keeping everything crossed that this bird will be returned to her home territory soon.
You can read more about her case here.
Half Tail
This Barn Owl is missing half his tail, which will need to regrow before he can be released.
This Owl was found roadside after a potential RTA. He was a bit battered and bruised and is missing half his tail, but is otherwise eating and moving around fine. Missing such a significant part of his tail is an issue though. The feathers have broken off right near the follicle so will need to naturally moult out before any new feathers arrive. It's not hindering his flight too much, but missing too much of the tail can make hunting very difficult. As such, this Owl will be staying with us until he has replaced his missing tail feathers, and will almost certainly be released from one of our Hack pens.
Tick Face
This Barn Owl was covered in parasites but also had injuries suggesting a tussle with another animal
This little barn owl came in covered in parasites and ticks. He had also sadly been grabbed by another animal or bird as was showing wounds around the face and neck. We are happy to say he is also feeding well and has not shown any further signs of infection or lasting issues from the injuries. When he arrived, he was wearing a BTO ring, which we have logged and will share the details in a future blog.
Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, some birds are too badly injured for us to save. We received a Barn Owl from a member of the public who thought it was dead when first found, face down in a field. Upon careful examination in our Raptor Hospital, our team discovered that the bird was suffering from severe bruising to the body, possibly the result of being clipped by a vehicle. There were no other signs of injury, so the bird was given pain relief and offered food, while being kept warm in our ICU. After a few days, we wanted to assess his ability to get around, so he was put into one of our small aviaries for monitoring. Despite seeming to be doing ok, a couple of days later the team found that he had died over night in the nest box provided. This was very upsetting to the team who had cared for him, but it appears that the initial impact had caused internal injuries which were undetectable. At least we can take comfort in the knowledge that his last few days were warm, pain free and well fed.
You can read more about his case here.
This Barn Owl came to us alive but had significant bruising to his body and unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.