A wily old bird who still enjoys the odd amorous adventure has rewritten the record books.
During the summer experts on a Forestry Commission-backed owl project were astonished to find a 20 year tawny with two chicks in a specially provided nest box in Kershope Forest, Cumbria, part of 155,000-acre Kielder Forest.
That makes her the oldest breeding female ever found in the wild, according to a database run by the British Trust for Ornithology. On average tawnies live to just a quarter of that age.
Both chicks fledged successfully and fingers are crossed that mum makes it through the winter. For then she will equal the oldest tawny ever recorded in the UK, a North Yorkshire specimen, which reached the grand old age of 21.
Brian Little, a naturalist who has worked on the project for many years and who made the discovery, said:
“The fact that the old girl had chicks shows that she must be in reasonable health. It really is an astonishing age for a tawny, surviving all the hazards and also the harsh winters we had in the late 1980s and early 1990s.”
The owl was ringed as a chick on 26 April 1987 in Kershope Forest and has probably produced scores of off-spring. Unlike humans, females remain fertile until very late in life. Most tawnies stay within a few miles of the area in which they were reared, so she is probably surrounded by a huge extended family.
Her longevity owes much to the Forestry Commission’s tawny owl project, which began in 1980.
More than 230 nesting boxes have been erected to provide a des res for the bird to rear its young, making up for a lack of natural nest sites.
Latest figures show that over the summer 105 pairs of birds laid eggs in the study area, centred on Kielder, but also including Kershope, Redesdale and Wark. Over 200 youngsters fledged – all of them ringed to aid conservation efforts.
Tom Dearnley, Forestry Commission Ecologist, said:
“The scheme is the largest of its kind in the UK and was devised by Dr Steve Petty, formerly with the Forestry Commission, to shed light on how the creature fared in an upland forest. Before this study, it was reckoned tawnies would be thin on the ground in such areas. But the evidence we’ve collected suggests a very different reality once conservation measures are put in place.”
Many more natural nesting sites will develop at Kielder as the wood matures, further boosting the owl’s fortunes and making them less reliant on boxes.
For more information on region’s woods go to:
www.forestry.gov.uk/NorthEastEngland.
NOTE TO EDITOR
The Forestry Commission is the government department responsible for protecting, expanding and promoting the sustainable management of woods and forests and increasing their value to society and the environment. Forestry makes a real contribution to sustainable development, providing social and environmental benefits arising from planting and managing attractive, as well as productive, woodlands. Media calls: Richard Darn on 01226 246351. Mobile: 0775 367 0038.