TYTO ALBA OR THE WHITE OWL, SCREECH OWL, GHOST OWL.

The Barn owl is one of the native owls in the UK but the number in the wild is going down. There are many reasons for this, the main one is due to road deaths (3-5000 per year).

The Barn owl's habitat is usually open lowlands like grassland, hedgerows, banks and now roadside verges. But they rarely breed at altitudes greater the 500feet above sea. You are most likely to see them just before sunset.

The most successful place to put a barn owl nest box is where a barn owl is known to roost. But you can put them almost anywhere like on a farm building, open grassland or the edge of woodland.

Boxes should be placed so they are facing the open countryside and not obstructed by trees, they should be well above ground level at least 3m high and a good distance from any roads, and they can be placed in the apex of a building, on a tree or on a wall. Inside you can place wood shaves for nest material. At the end of each breeding season it is sensible to clean out the box with a specialist disinfectant i.e. Vicron.