Kentucky Barn Owls

The Barn Owl is on Kentucky’s list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need under their State Wildlife Action Plan and on their Heritage program’s list of species of special concern.  In recent years, the state has been busy installing barn owl boxes on buildings, trees and poles in areas with suitable habitat.  They also encourage private landowners to do the same and provide info on their website for this purpose.

According to the Kentucky DNR website: “The infrequency of reports of this species in Kentucky is somewhat surprising because much suitable habitat in the form of pastures, hayfields, croplands, reclaimed surface-mine lands, and restored grasslands is present. In fact, 38% of the state is composed of undeveloped, open land (grassland/herbaceous, pasture, cropland, etc.). With such an abundance of suitable habitat, it seems Kentucky should host an abundance of Barn Owls. It is likely that the scarcity of breeding records is in part due to the elusive nature of these nocturnal predators.”

“Barn owls are sparsely scattered through most of the state except for the eastern fifth, where they are very rare.” says Kentucky State

Biologist Kate Heyden. “Most records are coming in from the western third and north-central parts of the state,” she adds. “Though part of the issue of finding barn owls may be getting access to old barns and silos on private property, my gut feeling is that even though we are likely missing some owls out there, the bird is still rare.  We have very few barn owls brought into rehab centers and few road kills. Nonetheless, we finally started putting boxes on poles this year in one of the best areas of the state for barn owls.  I’m hoping we’ll start some population expansion there.”

As with other states such as Ohio, where biologists have erected over 400 nest boxes on barns, and Illinois, where biologists have reported an increase from three known breeding pairs to over sixty, Kentucky is poised to bolster their barn owl populations through its ongoing nest box program, especially since the state possesses widespread prime habitat.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources encourages residents to install nest boxes and would like to learn more about nesting Barn Owls.  Please report Barn Owl nests to 1-800-858-1549 or to kate.slankard@ky.gov.