Barn Owls in the Everglades

In early February, I was down in southwest Florida with family, where we had a house rental on Sanibel island. If you've ever been to Sanibel, you know that there is very little incentive to actually leave the island. Aside from the bird viewing opportunities (including my lifer Short-tailed Hawk!), there is much cycling, shelling, and fishing to be had. I spent much of my time trying to catch a snook, to no avail.

Mid-week, I did actually leave the island, but it was for two good reasons. One, I wanted to try to find my lifer Fulvous Whistling-Duck, which could only be found on the mainland. Two, I wanted to find some Barn Owls, which have some known roosting sites south of Lake Okeechobee in winter. 

I did find the elusive duck. More exciting for me, though, was coming across not only a Barn Owl roost site, but several nest boxes identical to our own. The Barn Owl Box Company, and Mark Browning, have supplied nest boxes to the Everglades Agricultural Area in recent years, for installation in sugar cane fields, where the owls have been effective in controlling rodent populations. The Barn Owls, in return, are thriving.

The Everglades Agricultural Lands are mostly to blame for the ecological degradation in the Everglades as a whole. The "river of grass" that once flowed from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay has largely been diverted by dikes and canals, which allows the surprisingly rich soil to be used for sugar cane production. There are few stands of Bald Cypress in this region, which runs on for many, many miles. Only canals and a seemingly desolate landscape are to be found here.

But nature has a way of adapting to insult and degradation. I saw the man in this photo pull a massive bowfin out of the canal. A small ribbon snake basked nearby. Tree swallows swarmed in great numbers overhead. This place was very alive, if you knew where to look. In the seeming barren landscape, every mile or two, were Barn Owl boxes. 

Processing plants belched yellow smoke in the air, but the nest boxes stood proud, undeterred. And these Barn Owl boxes had been subjected to the harshest of environments. Extreme heat and sun. Humidity nearing 100%. The occasional tropical storm. I can't imagine any of our boxes in North Carolina looking quite as weathered as this one.

I was probably trespassing, but I had to see if there was an owl in one of these boxes. As I approached, I heard a terrifying hissing sound, as if a writhing ball of venomous asps had been dropped into Indiana Jones' bed. Yep, Barn Owl!! I stepped back, and took a photo with my 200mm lens. Look closely and you'll see the owl inside.

I took from this encounter many lessons. One, never mess with a defensive Barn Owl. Two, the owls like these boxes, even if they are placed in the most inhospitable places. And finally, the boxes themselves really are indestructible. We made the right choice.

Audubon Magazine: Safe Alternatives to Pest Control

A timely article was published in a recent Audubon Magazine (January/February 2013) on Barn Owls and pest management. The story gives a fantastic overview of rodenticides, when they are useful and when they are destructive. It also explores using Barn Owls as natural rodent control. This article will be part of any educational materials we develop for the Piedmont Barn Owl Initiative.

Why Barn Owls are Worth Saving

Barn Owls are special creatures. Unrelated to typical owls, Barn Owls are placed in their own taxonomic family: Tytonidae. Sixteen species of Barn Owl are found worldwide, but only one is found in the United States and North Carolina: The Common Barn Owl, Tyto alba.

Before Europeans arrived in North America, Common Barn Owls (hereafter referred to only as Barn Owls) nested in the hollow cavities of old trees, near native agricultural fields and prairies. When those large trees were felled by settlers, it actually created more habitat for the owls, and more food in the form of mice, rats, and voles. As their traditional nesting sites diminished, Barn Owls quickly discovered what their European cousins already knew. . .that wooden barns provided the perfect shelter to raise their young. A symbiotic relationship between the Barn Owl and the American farmer was born. The Barn Owl provided pest management and aesthetic pleasure, the farmer provided a safe haven for nesting.

By the 1950's, however, major shifts in land management and farming practice began taking place. Old wooden structures were torn down to make way for modern agribusiness. Pesticides and rodenticides were introduced, many of which were detrimental to the owls, which were still feeding on the poisoned rodents. Fallow fields, which once were favorite hunting grounds for Barn Owls, gave way to monoculture crops of corn and soybeans. The relationship between Barn Owl and man, which had existed for centuries, was slowly being torn apart.

By the 1990's, the once ubiquitous Barn Owl had become exceedingly rare in the North Carolina Piedmont. To add insult to injury, old farm fields were being quickly converted to big box stores and subdivisions, as the Research Triangle experienced a major economic boom. What few farm fields did survive slowly converted to forest, as local farmers found it increasingly difficult to make a living.

In 2012, the New Hope Audubon Society decided to take a look at the declining Barn Owl population and make an effort to improve local numbers. It was determined that several trends favored a Barn Owl program. First, central North Carolina is fast becoming a trendsetter in new approaches to sustainable agriculture practice. Farmers markets abound. Increasing awareness in organic or traditional approaches to land management, as well as recent farm-to-table trends, are very favorable for both people and wildlife. Secondly, recent land acquisitions by the Triangle Land Conservancy and other organizations, along with the creation of agricultural land buffers, have made large, managed lands accessible for nesting sites. Barn Owls require large, open areas of 25 to 50 acres or more, preferably with grasses that are kept fairly low with livestock grazing or other managment. Thirdly, new nesting boxes have come available that are well researched and designed, and made of durable plastics that will last several years.

The vision of the New Hope Audubon Society is to place 25 nest boxes in Orange, Durham, and Chatham Counties by 2015. Similar programs in Pennsylvania, California, and Florida have been successful in attracting mating Barn Owls. Because Barn Owls are prolific breeders, a single pair can have a significant impact on regional populations. If efforts are successful at attracting Barn Owls, New Hope Audubon plans to assist local landowners in erecting their own nest boxes.

Barn Owls have a lot to offer us. Their beauty, for one, can be astonishing. Acute hearing allows them to hunt nocturnally, but they are sometimes seen at dusk, gliding over fields like a small ghost. They are voracious consumers of rats, mice, and voles, especially during the breeding season. Barn Owls offer an alternative to rodenticides and other poisons which can kill not only wildlife, but possibly pets or livestock. And they offer us a glimpse into our agricultural heritage, when North Carolina was dominated by small family farms and open fields of tobacco, corn, and other crops.
Each Barn Owl box costs approximately $250 to install. If you'd like to help us with this initiative, please join the New Hope Audubon Society at newhopeaudubon.org. Or feel free to make a tax deductible contribution. Thank you.