Dead Barn Owl

fleabag

Sad to report that I found a dead barn owl in a field that had been recently been silaged. The owl had been pecked around the neck and on the eyes and had feathers missing but I don't think this is what killed him. Nor do I think that he was hit by a tractor as he was undamaged apart from the bald patch where he'd been pecked (probably after dieing?). He was bleeding but I couldn't see if it was from his beak or eyes. One of his feet was caught in the coarse thick grass left behind after the grass has been cut and his legs were fully extended as if he'd been trying to fly away but couldn't.

Is there any chance that he landed to take some prey and got his foot caught like this? (The field was cut on Saturday and baled on Sunday). Seems odd because barn owls must land in grass all the time when hunting and I can't believe they would get stuck like this. I freed the foot and the grass was tough but it wasn't too difficult. I was amazed at the length of the claws on him but surely he would have been able to disentangle himself? Anybody got any other ideas about what might have killed him? Could he have been a young, inexperienced bird?

Of course now I'm kicking myself because if I'd gone into the field sooner and he was trapped I might have found him when he was alive and been able to do something. I often used to see a barn owl when out walking or driving up the lane and it always made my night. I often wished for a closer look but not in this way. He was a truly beautiful creature.

Birdnuts

Sounds like he might have died from secondary poisoning ie. from the consumption of contaminated prey like a rat who fed on some kind of rodenticide. Its a big problem for raptor species that concentrate on rodent prey in this country and has hit the population of Barn Owls, Kestrels etc. hard in recent decades. I would contact John Lusby who is Birdwatch Ireland Raptor conservation officer and he will make arrangements to have the carcass tested if you like. John and a number of other professionals are working on a project to fully quantify and address this problem

fleabag

Thanks for that, I'll do as you suggest. Hope this isn't a stupid question but how do I keep the carcass 'fresh' until Birdwatch Ireland get it?? I've no freezer and the fella won't like it in the fridge!

fleabag

Sorry - scrub the above question. Made an executive decision and owl is now in fridge - next to lettuce.

allthedoyles

As you may know , Owls become active mainly at night .

I think they suffer from some blindness during the day , and I know of one just tipped off a car recently and was dead too quite easily .

dodderangler

I know people that fly them during the day so it's safe to say the light doesn do much damage against their eyes They seem to fly grand during the day as not all owls are nocturnal but their eyes are a great advantage at night easy to take rats and mice as they can't see the owl coming
It's sad to see it dead but it could've been anything
If it was caught and couldn't get free a pair or a couple of rooks would easily take advantage of it seeing it in distress and kill it maybe that's the marks you seen on it

fleabag

Just a quick update - arranged to send the bird to John Lusby so he can take a look and if I get any information back, Ill post another update then. Thanks to all who replied, especially BirdNuts for the information about Birdwatch Ireland.

ThunderCat

dodderangler wrote: »

I know people that fly them during the day so it's safe to say the light doesn do much damage against their eyes They seem to fly grand during the day as not all owls are nocturnal but their eyes are a great advantage at night easy to take rats and mice as they can't see the owl coming
It's sad to see it dead but it could've been anything
If it was caught and couldn't get free a pair or a couple of rooks would easily take advantage of it seeing it in distress and kill it maybe that's the marks you seen on it

Yea I read recently that the general rule is that owls with yellow around their pupils are suited to hunting during daytime hours, owls with orange around their pupils are more suited to hunting during light conditions at dusk and dawn and owls with dark brown/black eyes are more suited to hunting during the night.

dodderangler

Not necessarily although that is the general discussion
I'm sure if an owl is hungry enough that they'd come out to hunt in the day
I've often seen barns and Long ears flying over meadows looking for food durin the day but on a dull day
Doubt I'd have seen them in 25 degree weather lol

Half-cocked

Found a dead Long Eared Owl near Bray today. It was quite emaciated. I was surprised how small it was. Pic below of the talons.