(Alan Ball via SWNS)
By Adam Dutton and Rachel Armitage
Conservationists are celebrating after Europe’s oldest recorded barn owl was found to still be breeding in a UK village at 18.
The bird, originally ringed as a chick in Nottinghamshire in 2007, was discovered at Eastfield Farm in Hough on the Hill, Lincs.
The farm owns several owl boxes, built and installed by owner John Lord and his grandson Ben Lord is responsible for monitoring the owl population within them.
Alan Ball, 68, has been ringing wild birds for more than 40 years and runs the owl survey in Lincolnshire on behalf of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).
When he visited the farm to conduct its annual barn owl survey on June 25, he found seven chicks and four adults.
One of the adults, a female, was ringed as a chick in Collingham, near Newark, on June 23, 2007, making the bird 18 years old.
She is still breeding and has a six-week-old chick.
(Ben Lord via SWNS)
By Talker
The previous oldest barn owl was recorded as being 15 years and seven months old in 2023.
New data yet to be released by the BTO records that this was broken by a 17-year-old barn owl, found in Frampton Marsh near Boston last year.
This owl in Eastfield Farm has now been recorded as the oldest living barn owl not only in the UK, but in Europe.
As the average lifespan of a barn owl is just four years, the female is said to be “an incredibly significant owl,” and both the mother and chick were reported to be healthy.
Ben said: “It’s quite an achievement for little Hough on the Hill, and especially as it hasn’t been a great year for owls as their food source has suffered because of the weather.
“To think that our little farm in Lincolnshire was the place for something like this is great – it puts us on the map.”
Alan, of Sleaford, Lincs., said that it was “unheard of” for an owl to live to this age, let alone to still be breeding.
He added: “I recognized the first few letters on its ring, and remembered that I had recorded this owl some time ago.
“We found out this bird had been recorded in Nottinghamshire on 23 June 2007. The date we’d found it was the 25 June 2025, making it 18 years old.
“Immediately, I knew it was one of the oldest, if not the oldest. I was amazed by the discovery.
“For a barn owl to be alive and breeding at that age is spectacular, and a brilliant sign for their future.
(Alan Ball via SWNS)
By Talker
“Lincolnshire is the best in the country for barn owl populations.
“All of our open farm land and our nest box schemes have worked wonders, and owl numbers in Lincolnshire have risen from 200 pairs to between 1,200 and 1,500 pairs over the past 40 years.”
Barn owls are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which means it is illegal to kill, injure or take any wild bird, take, damage or destroy the nest or eggs of any wild bird while that nest is in use or being built.
BTO volunteers, who must be licensed to check nest boxes, will ring the chicks between the ages of three to seven weeks.
Barn owls tend to live within 5-6km of where they fledged, and when they are fully fledged at around seven months old they will rarely move territory.
A spokesperson for the Barn Owl Trust said the discovery was “incredibly rare” and “great news” for the future of the species.
Daniel Whitelegg, an assistant conservationist at the trust, said: “Only 40% of these owls make it to breeding age, so the fact this one has survived this long and is breeding is exceptional.
“The work of volunteers is so important, and we would love to see more barn owls making it to this age – we are hopeful for the future.”