Vehicles, lack of hunting and nesting sites threaten urban barn owls: report
VANCOUVER — One of Canada’s largest populations of barn owls may be more aptly named bridge or overpass owls because they’re losing normal roosting spaces and struggling to adapt to urbanization, a new study says.
It was based on owls around Metro Vancouver and found that habitat loss, road deaths and rodent poison have a lethal impact on the birds but changes to green-space policies and public education could mitigate the loss.
Wildlife biologist and lead researcher Sofi Hindmarch said the original focus of the study was on the impact of rodenticide, but that changed when the owls were seen to be dependant on hunting along grass growing next to highways.
Barn owls’ hunting behaviour usually involves flying within a metre of the ground, making them especially vulnerable to being hit by vehicles, said the study contracted by Environment Canada and published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning.