The best foraging habitat for Barn Owls is rough grassland – a thick, matted, tussocky mix of native grass species with lots of Field Voles and other small mammals. This gallery shows some examples of really good rough grassland – great for Barn Owls and lots of other wildlife.
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- Rough grassland along the Forty Foot Drain in Lincolnshire
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- Rough grass in a small Devon orchard
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- Rough grass pond and field margins in Somerset
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- Rough grass ditch banks in East Yorkshire
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- Superb rough grassland at Cley in Norfolk
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- When designing a tree plantation, leave strips unplanted like this
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- Commercial forestry plantations are good for about the first 5-7 years
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- Alternate strip ‘topping’ in late summer is a useful management technique
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- The earth ‘bund’ between the field and the reeds is good rough grassland
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- Vole holes can reach an average of 2 per sq. metre where there is a litter-layer >7cm deep
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- Young deciduous plantations are good for the first 7-10 years
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- Stubble fields in winter with waste grain are great for mice and Barn Owls
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- Arable farming with patches or strips of rough grass is the best type of farmland for Barn Owls
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- A rough grass field margin in Shropshire
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- Part of the Barn Owl Trust’s own Nature Reserve (the LLP)
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- Although it can, the rough grass does not need to go right up to the nest/roost site
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- For a short while, this is great mouse habitat! © Derek Harper – Creative Commons Licence
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- Isolated patches of rough grass are just as important as linear strips
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- Open habitats around pig pens reduce the need for rodenticide use
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- With a good 70mm litter layer, rough grassland can contain up to 400 Field Voles per hectare!
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