18/08/2026
🚗🦉Calling all car commuters!🦉🚗
Do you regularly drive through the UK countryside? We need your help!
Monitoring this summer has revealed many large broods, with many young Barn Owls fledging much earlier than usual. This means we’re expecting to see more birds out and about over the next few months.
Sadly, as low-flying birds, young Barn Owls navigating the landscape for the first time during their dispersal journeys are particularly vulnerable to road traffic collisions.
It’s not a nice thing to ask, but if you spot a dead Barn Owl on the road network, please:
Make a mental note of the location, using nearby landscape features.
On major roads, numbered marker posts can be particularly helpful.
If you regularly drive that route, consider slowing down a little and taking a second look next time you pass, just to double-check the species ID.
When you’re safely parked and stationary, report the sighting via our national survey website: barnowlsurvey.org.uk
Please drop a pin on the map as accurately as possible.
These sightings are incredibly valuable to our research. They help demonstrate the prevalence of this hazard and its impact on the species’ population.
In some cases, reports have even helped us make recommendations to National Highways and other agencies to introduce mitigation measures on stretches of road where fatalities are particularly common.
You can find more information, along with our previous research papers on the subject, here: https://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/hazards-solutions/barn-owls-major-roads/
On the positive side, you can also use the same survey site to record any Barn Owl sightings, dead or alive!
