Woo-hoo! Barn owl stages a comeback: Species has its best ever breeding season in 2014 because of the mild winter

  • Mild winter helped the number of nests and chicks reach a record high 
  • Experts feared for the future of the species in 2013 after bitter winter
  • Barn owls were among hardest hit and could not hunt, so many starved

By Daily Mail Reporter

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Barn owls have made an incredible comeback after fears that the birds may die out in Britain

Barn owls have made an incredible comeback after fears that the birds may die out in Britain

Barn owls have made an incredible comeback after fears that the birds may die out in Britain.

The species had its best ever breeding season last year when the mild winter helped the number of nests and chicks reach a record high. 

Experts feared for the future of the species in 2013 when already-fragile populations were decimated by the bitter cold – which hit food supplies of mice and voles, the British Trust for Ornithology said yesterday. 

Barn owls were among the hardest hit and were unable to hunt, meaning many starved to death. 

The latest edition of the British Trust for Ornithology's magazine said: 'In 2013, following an exceptionally cold April and May, recorders found themselves checking empty nest boxes and wondering whether there would be a breeding season at all.' 

The number of nest records for 2013 was 886, down 62 per cent on the previous year, and there were only 2,962 barn owl left. 

But in 2014 record numbers of eggs and chicks were found in nests which are monitored through the breeding season.

A delighted British Trust for Ornithology spokesman said: 'In 2014, barn owls were back in action and some recorders were reporting the best breeding season they had ever witnessed.'  

The species had its best ever breeding season last year when the mild winter helped the number of nests and chicks reach a record high

The species had its best ever breeding season last year when the mild winter helped the number of nests and chicks reach a record high

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