Barn owls are particularly vulnerable to road traffic mortality in autumn when young owls disperse from their natal territories. Low hunting flight height over road verges combined with dazzle from headlights makes them highly susceptible to vehicle strikes.
Vehicle strikes cause traumatic injury including wing fractures, skull damage, and internal bleeding. Owls struck by vehicles may survive initially and die slowly from internal injuries before discovery. The dazzle response from vehicle headlights may be an inherited vulnerability that evolved before bright artificial light. Barn owls are important indicator species whose welfare status reflects the health of the wider lowland farmland ecosystem.