Barn Owl boxes installed in Ardclough today (3rd November 2023)

A big thank you to Kildare Birdwatch volunteers Tom, Brendan, Neil and Anthony for installing our three new Barn Owl nest boxes in Ardclough today.

We used some of our funding from Kildare Co. Council to cover the materials for the boxes, but the guys built them and installed them for us at no cost.  It’s not easy lifting and installing these big boxes up into trees and the eaves of barns.  Well done to all involved.

Now, we wait to see whether the Barn Owls (or any other tenants) move in.

Brendan and Tom came out to Ardclough earlier this year and helped us to identify sites that could work well.  We learned from them that it’s often useful to install the boxes in pairs, because the female will keep the box to herself while she’s sitting on eggs and the male needs somewhere to roost nearby.  Eventually, as the chicks grow, the female will get pushed out to join the male too.

We had one of the boxes installed at a site that is within range of a box already installed on the Lyons Estate, and the other two boxes at a site with an old open barn.  According to the guys, 70% of the monitored nest boxes that have been occupied, are indoor boxes.  Barn Owls have often been seen around both sites, so fingers crossed.

Barn Owls have been in decline for a long time for many reasons but one of the big risks is rat and mouse poisons.  The Owls may catch a rat or mouse before it has died or may scavenge one that is already dead.  The poison gets into their systems and has various effects depending on the dose, from weaker egg shells, to death.

In recent years, Irish Barn Owls have been making a bit of a come back.  Some of this is definitely attributable to the efforts of volunteers like Kildare Birdwatch, but there is also evidence that the abundance of recently introduced Greater White Toothed Shrew has been a big boost to their food supply.

We’ll keep an eye out and prepare to write articles about Ardclough Barn Owl chicks over the next few years.

Thank you again to Kildare Birdwatch, Kildare Co. Council and the local volunteers and hosts of the new boxes.