Tawny owls are adapting to urban environments but face welfare challenges from glass strikes, rodenticide exposure, and loss of suitable nesting trees.
Window strikes cause traumatic head injuries often resulting in death or permanent impairment. Rodenticide exposure through garden-caught rats and mice causes coagulopathic symptoms. Nest tree felling destroys nesting pairs in established territories. Juvenile owls dispersing in autumn are highly vulnerable to road mortality. Urban habitat also offers some benefits including reduced persecution and abundant prey.