Barn owls are beloved farmland birds experiencing population decline from rodenticide poisoning, habitat loss, and traffic mortality. Their welfare depends on safe farming practices and rural habitat quality.
Barn owl welfare is threatened by secondary rodenticide poisoning, a harm that has expanded dramatically with the widespread use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides. SGARs accumulate in the prey chain — rodents that eat bait remain active long enough to be caught by owls, which accumulate the poison. Sublethal doses cause impaired clotting, haemorrhage, and impaired coordination that may reduce hunting success, causing starvation. Fatal doses cause internal bleeding. Many owls found dead contain multiple SGARs simultaneously. Traffic strikes cause traumatic injuries on rural roads, where owls hunt at wheel height. Habitat loss removes the tussocky grassland margins that support the vole populations barn owls depend on. Reducing rodenticide use on farms — replaced with physical pest management and by supporting natural predator populations — directly protects barn owl welfare.