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