Barn Owl Box Survey — Somerset England
The Somerset Levels' barn owl (Tyto alba) monitoring programme — 500+ nest boxes checked annually by Somerset Wildlife Trust volunteers, the programme's 30-year dataset making it one of Britain's longest-running barn owl studies — provides public participation opportunities in June chick-ringing visits where the nest box's contents (2–7 chicks at various stages of development) are examined, measured, and ringed in the presence of the watching group. The experience of holding a 3-week-old barn owl chick — a creature of pure white down with enormous black eyes, its threat display (rocking side to side, hissing, and spreading its wings) entirely disproportionate to its 200-gram mass — is one of England's finest wildlife handling experiences, combining conservation science with direct animal contact in a managed, responsible context. Somerset's barn owl density makes it the finest county in England for both seeing and studying this species.
About this spectacle
On the vast, flat Somerset Levels — one of England's most productive wetland landscapes — Somerset Wildlife Trust volunteers check more than 500 nest boxes each year as part of a monitoring programme now spanning three decades. In June, small public groups join licensed ringers at nest boxes to witness chick-ringing first-hand. When the box is opened, visitors encounter two to seven barn owl chicks in varying stages of development: some are clouds of white down with disproportionately large black eyes; older siblings show the ghost-face disc beginning to form beneath emerging feathers. Each chick is gently removed, weighed, measured, and fitted with a BTO ring before being returned to the box. A three-week-old chick in the palm of the hand performs its full threat display — rocking, hissing, wings fanned wide — despite weighing barely 200 grams. The contrast between the bird's fierce theatre and its fragile reality is unforgettable. Somerset's barn owl density gives this programme an unmatched concentration of active nest sites, and the 30-year dataset means every chick ringed adds to a genuinely significant long-term study.
When to go
Jun
Getting there
Nearest airport: BRS. Nearest city: Taunton.
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