With heart-shaped faces and pure white chests, the barn owl is a much loved countryside bird. Over the summer months Harewood Estate has seen a young family of barn owls grow and thrive. As part of the ongoing conservation efforts on the Estate, the young family of 4 owlets were checked and ringed just three weeks ago.
Just three short weeks on, this is the last of the four to fly the nest.
A few facts about barn owls:
The barn owl is one of the most widely distributed species of owl occurring on every continent except Antarctica. A nocturnal species, they have exceptional hearing and can find prey from sound alone eating rodents, small mammals, young rabbits and even moles. They are often found in open countryside such as farmland or grassland interspersed with woodland making Harewood Estate the perfect habitat.