Barn Owls rule the roost in UK poll
The beautiful Barn Owl has won the RSPB vote for the public's favourite farmland bird. In the 1930s there were around 12,000 pairs in England and Wales, but at the last count, in the late 1990s, the numbers had dropped to fewer than 4000. The bird's decline is thought to be due to the renovation of barns and conversion of old buildings, not to mention the use of pesticides and loss of prey habitat. The birds were also persecuted up until the 1950s as they were thought to be a bad omen. It's the first time a poll has been carried out to discover the nation's favourite farmland bird, with the skylark finishing a close second.
Related: Green farming could help farmland birds
Dr Sue Armstrong Brown, Head of Countryside Policy at the RSPB, said: 'Farmland birds are popular for their songs, their dramatic courtship displays and, in the case of the barn owl, their stealth, mystery and beauty.
'But they have been declining for some years and we staged the vote as a fun way to draw attention to their plight. Progress has been made through green farming schemes and the work of conservation-minded farmers, but there is still a long way to go before farmland birds are out of trouble.'
The RSPB are pushing the government to provide more funding for green farming schemes, especially now that the practice of leaving 'set-aside' land is being abolished.
Dr Armstrong Brown said: 'The loss of set-aside could severely dent the progress made towards helping birds like the skylark, lapwing and yellowhammer. Increasing the incentives available to farmers to keep land fallow and retain grassland for hunting barn owls will go a long way towards meeting the government's target for helping these scarce species recover.'
What a lovely bird, none of my barn owls have such stunning colours, still they are just as great and i would never be with out them, nor any other ows i have as well.
Posted by: clare warnes | August 28, 2007 10:54 AM