Barn Owl/Tawny Owl- Have not been heard

[Meadow5]

Back a few months ago i heard an owl every night, but never managed to see it. I did hear from someone it was white coloured, swooping through the trees in a ghost-like presence. I once heard two making sounds one night, but usually it was one. I have not heard an owl for several months, which has led me to concern. There are plenty of trees and a very small woodland sort of area, sometimes it has been in my garden in the tree but i havent seen it myself, just heard it. Out of concern i started thinking about the reasons for this possible dissapearance, and one that came to mind was perhaps the amount of natural food is very low because of free-roaming pet cats?

Owls hunt for mice and other mammals for food, and i am thinking it is likely, unless an other reason, that the local cats are depleting the food sources for natural predators.It is likely to deplete food sources for real predators, as cats are unnaturally high in numbers.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what could have happened? Do they go elsewhere in the winter? I would love to put up an owl nesting box for it sometime but i feel it would be unfair if there is not enough natural food for it in the area

[burhinus]

Hi Meadow 5

Do not give up, owls are not vocal all year, Tawny's tend to have a flurry of activity in October/November then go a bit quieter till spring. Barn in my experience is more vocal in spring.

Dont know what others think?

[diggleken]

Our Tawny called as soon as dark tonight, after not hearing for a good few weeks.
Check the RSPB site for calls, tawny is the too whoo etc, whilst Barns are also known as screech owls for good reason - then you should know which you have.
Cheers
Ken

[Meadow5]

Giggleken, I listened to the sounds of both tawny and barn owls and the sounds i heard a couple of months ago were that of a tawny. But it is confusing as the owl was white

[tigertom]

Originally Posted by Meadow5

Giggleken, I listened to the sounds of both tawny and barn owls and the sounds i heard a couple of months ago were that of a tawny. But it is confusing as the owl was white

It may well be that wilst you could hear tawny owls calling the owl seen was a barn owl but not the one you could hear calling.
MIKE

[FUDGEY]

Tawny can appear whitish sometimes if you see its underwings and breast. As for the dissapearance the cats wont have made enough of an impact on the rodents. If its gone more likely its moved on or been kiled by a car or Fox or something.

[diggleken]

I love being called Giggleken, nice, should have used that!
As Fudgey says, its highly unlikely cats will decimate a good vole/ mice population if thats why the owls are there in the first place - it sounds good habitat for Tawnies with all those mature trees too.
They are likely to still be with you, and as has been said, they have quiet periods, usually in winter.
Cheers
Ken

[nightshade]

Tawnys call in the small hours near me, 3:36 AM seems to be a regular time, although sometimes it is close enough to be in the garden (unseen as yet)
more often it is quite far away. It is male and female calls we hear

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by Meadow5

Back a few months ago i heard an owl every night, but never managed to see it. I did hear from someone it was white coloured, swooping through the trees in a ghost-like presence. I once heard two making sounds one night, but usually it was one. I have not heard an owl for several months, which has led me to concern. There are plenty of trees and a very small woodland sort of area, sometimes it has been in my garden in the tree but i havent seen it myself, just heard it. Out of concern i started thinking about the reasons for this possible dissapearance, and one that came to mind was perhaps the amount of natural food is very low because of free-roaming pet cats?

Perhaps the key reason that owls call is to establish or advertise a territory. By the sounds of it (other than colour) it is morelikely a tawny owl.

Tawny owls are highly territorial and highly sedentary, to the point where they will usually not leave the territory even when food supplies are depleated or very low, which usually does not occur, due to them being quite opportunistic. Calls do occur throughout the year however there is a clear peak between October and November and again at the start of the breeding season around February. It is not unusual for tawny owls to go quiet throughout the winter, some birds being more vocal than others. It is most likely that this is the reason for the apparent abscence.

Originally Posted by Meadow5

Owls hunt for mice and other mammals for food, and i am thinking it is likely, unless an other reason, that the local cats are depleting the food sources for natural predators.It is likely to deplete food sources for real predators, as cats are unnaturally high in numbers.

There is no doubt that cats do compete with native predators, however at the current time of year levels of prey are generally quite high so it should'nt be causing to much of a problem, unless major habitat change etc has occured recently. Tawny owls are not so relient on woodmice and bank voles particularly in urban/sub-urban areas where a significant part of their diet is actually made up of birds. These are captured whilst roosting and can be anything from tit sized to pigeon sized.

Originally Posted by Meadow5

Does anyone have any suggestions for what could have happened? Do they go elsewhere in the winter? I would love to put up an owl nesting box for it sometime but i feel it would be unfair if there is not enough natural food for it in the area

See my above points about the likely answer. As I mentioned above Tawny owls are very sedentary birds and do not migrate or travel far from the territory. Even young birds disperse short distances. The British tawny owl population is saturated, so the minute an available territory becomes available other birds quickly move in, especially in Autumn when young birds are looking to establish a home range.

By all means put up a nest box, although they dont always have high occupancy rates. Grey squirrel in particular often move in before tawny owls get established, so squirrel proofing the box would be recommended. If there was not enough food in a particular area tawny owls would either not occur there or not breed every year. Food abundance is a key factor in whether or not a territory can be established and maintained.

[wezwez]

I've had the same problem where i've not heard the Tawny's by me for about 6 months, although we have found signs that they are about. was also wondering how big is a Tawny's territory is and how far can their calls carry taking into account wind direction etc.

Steve