What they like

Open countryside with rough edges. Barns, stables and old trees with cavities. Quiet, dark and space to hunt low. Help it by hanging a nest box in a quiet barn (clear flight path, no bright lights). Leave a messy corner with wood, stones and tall grass: a mouse hotel. In gardens and parks: create rough strips along paths; mow late and not all at once.

Ecological importance

Top predator of field voles, wood mice and other voles. One family takes thousands a year. That saves trouble on farmyards and fields. Barn owls themselves are prey for, among others, the Eurasian eagle-owl and the sparrowhawk; young are especially vulnerable.

When in the Netherlands

Year-round. Often breeds early, sometimes already in February. In years with lots of mice a second brood often follows.

Status

Breeding bird. Locally vulnerable: fewer prey due to tightly mown grasslands, fewer nest sites and dangerous roads. With good nest boxes and rough margins things can improve quickly.