Barn owls are beloved but declining across many of their global range due to habitat loss, rodenticide poisoning, and road mortality. Supporting their welfare benefits entire ecosystems.
Barn owl welfare is shaped primarily by habitat quality, prey availability, and freedom from anthropogenic mortality sources. Individual barn owl welfare is compromised by rodenticide poisoning — a slow, painful death from internal bleeding that affects thousands of birds annually. Road mortality from collisions with vehicles is another significant individual welfare harm. At the population level, the loss of rough grassland habitat eliminates foraging areas that barn owls require for hunting success, causing starvation particularly in harsh winters. Nest box programs that restore nesting opportunities in agricultural landscapes are highly cost-effective welfare and conservation interventions. Supporting farmers to maintain unimproved grassland margins benefits not just barn owls but a broad suite of farmland biodiversity.