It’s not even noon and John Carrig has already fielded three calls about owls and birds of prey. The director of The Barn Owl Project, which was set up in 2019 to help with the conservation and rescue of this iconic endangered bird, jokes that today’s number is actually quite low.
The Ballinasloe native is just emerging from the “busiest time” for the barn owl – the breeding season usually runs from around March to August. Some days during this period there are 15-20 calls, not all about the barn owl, he explains. They are also in relation to birds of prey which they rescue.
Today, assistance was sought from the project in relation to an injured juvenile owl, a kestrel and a sparrowhawk. He recalls two recent late-night owl calls from Longford and Roscommon, which meant very little sleep before going into his full-time job in the Galway-based multinational, Train Technologies, where he is problem-solving in industry.
Happily, both birds in Longford and Roscommon were “saved and are now back out in the wild”. But John is quick to stress that it is the callers who mind the birds, and volunteers who respond to emergencies and care for injured birds who should get the plaudits for the positive outcomes.
“There is a big passion among the general public and the farming community for wildlife,” he says, and once people know what you are doing, they are very willing to help or get involved.
“You hear people talk that if you’re a farmer, you’re a custodian of wildlife [and that’s correct]. You’re looking after the land; yes, you have to make a living from it, but there is a lot more positive stuff going on than there is negative,” John observes.
A published wildlife photographer, he was also involved in wildlife rescue for 25 years, generally for anything that “bites or pinches”, he quips.
“Someone once asked me, ‘What’s the one animal you haven’t seen in the wild? I said the barn owl, so I kind of made my mind up to concentrate on one [type of bird] and see if I can make a difference.”
After some study with the Barn Owl Trust in the UK, John did just that and set up The Barn Owl Project but is quick to stress many others have also been working in this area for years.
But what is it about the barn owl, or ‘scréachóg reilige’ as Gaeilge, that attracted him to dedicate himself to this elusive bird? John admits he is fascinated by the history of the barn owl, a nighttime hunter who generally nests in old buildings or in tree cavities.
“We all know the owl that flies across the screen on Friday for The Late Late Show is a barn owl. It is less known though that the famous call of the banshee is also the barn owl.
“If you’ve heard a barn owl out in a field at 2am or done a study in an old building or a castle to see what’s there and you hear a barn owl coming out screeching – it just goes through you.
“I was fascinated by all that stuff,” John continues.
Connecting with people through his conservation work has been really good for him personally, he admits, adding that some of the most special people he has met with have been farmers. Many will message about owl sightings, report nesting sites and put nesting boxes on their land or in old buildings.
A view of some barn owls rescued by The Barn Owl Project.
The farmer’s friend
One of only three owl species in Ireland, he says the most common place to see a barn owl in the past was on a fence post at the side of the road in a field or in a barn, when farmers went to feed cattle or take out hay.
“The reason for that is that they go in there to hunt small rodents. They were always known in Ireland as being ‘the farmer’s friend,’” he explains, adding that older stone farm buildings often have a square-shaped hole on the side gable for them to come in and out.
“People couldn’t afford to be using poisons, and anyway, they weren’t readily available. The owl would pop in there at night, the mice would be down eating the grain, and the owl would pick them off.”
One owl will eat 1,000 rats or mice in a year, he tells Irish Country Livinghence their value to the farmer in the past. However, when poisons became cheaper and more readily available and farming practices changed, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, with less grain and crops like sugar beet, their food sources declined and numbers fell to low levels.
While the numbers are up and down over the last few years, they have increased in the last decade, according to John, but he estimates there are still only 1,500 to 1,800 breeding pairs countrywide. “Numbers are nowhere near where they should be.”
He remains positive, though, with the “very good” ACRES scheme that can “only get better”, seeing thousands of farmers install nesting boxes on their land. This has resulted in heartwarming stories of people going to extraordinary lengths because they “love having the owls on the property”.
Education is a big part of his work, and he regularly gives talks to the public and to farmers and helps support local projects in different counties set up by volunteers. These groups link in with their work, doing surveys and working with landowners.
While not advocating having an owl as a pet, John does bring along Erin, the project’s owl, so people can see this beautiful bird up close and ask questions.
The big threats for the barn owl are being killed on the roads – they are the number one bird to be killed on Irish roads. Poisoning and the lack of nest sites are also key issues.
John cites a small study they did in conjunction with road maintenance crews on the motorway coming out of Galway to illustrate the road deaths point further.
“From Oranmore to Ballinasloe, over the space of just over a year there were 115 dead birds. This was captured from calls from the motorway crew, our own guys and the ambulance drivers who rang if they saw them at night. Galway would not be considered to be one of the counties with a lot of barn owls.
“The numbers are a lot higher than they were 10 years ago, but the problem with barn owls is that they are very susceptible to weather changes and changes in farming practices.
“If you get a week of wind and rain, that will do untold damage, especially during the breeding season. Barn owls can’t fly in the wind or rain, so therefore they can’t hunt. Barn owls in Ireland don’t carry fat in their body, so they really are at the point of starvation [without hunting], which is a struggle.”
Patrick Carrig, John’s brother who is also involved in The Barn Owl Project, pictured with a rescue barn owl.
So, what can counter some of the many challenges? John says at this time of year “hundreds of owls are looking for their home” after leaving the nest, so correctly installed nest boxes can attract them. Forward planning can really help too – putting in nest boxes ahead of time, if a nesting area has to be taken out.
He urges landowners to talk to their neighbours and work with them. “If you get owls on your site – let your neighbours know they’re there. They’ll benefit both of you,” he points out because they travel more than 5km to hunt prey like mice or shrews.
“It’s not always possible to avoid poison, but try everything else first,” he advises, saying that it’s estimated 95% of barn owls have been found with poison in their systems.
While protecting the barn owl is challenging work, for John it is hugely rewarding.
“For every win you get, for every positive interaction you get, it’s amazing,” and this, he agrees, is what keeps him going.
See thebarnowlproject.ie.
It’s not even noon and John Carrig has already fielded three calls about owls and birds of prey. The director of The Barn Owl Project, which was set up in 2019 to help with the conservation and rescue of this iconic endangered bird, jokes that today’s number is actually quite low.
The Ballinasloe native is just emerging from the “busiest time” for the barn owl – the breeding season usually runs from around March to August. Some days during this period there are 15-20 calls, not all about the barn owl, he explains. They are also in relation to birds of prey which they rescue.
Today, assistance was sought from the project in relation to an injured juvenile owl, a kestrel and a sparrowhawk. He recalls two recent late-night owl calls from Longford and Roscommon, which meant very little sleep before going into his full-time job in the Galway-based multinational, Train Technologies, where he is problem-solving in industry.
Happily, both birds in Longford and Roscommon were “saved and are now back out in the wild”. But John is quick to stress that it is the callers who mind the birds, and volunteers who respond to emergencies and care for injured birds who should get the plaudits for the positive outcomes.
“There is a big passion among the general public and the farming community for wildlife,” he says, and once people know what you are doing, they are very willing to help or get involved.
“You hear people talk that if you’re a farmer, you’re a custodian of wildlife [and that’s correct]. You’re looking after the land; yes, you have to make a living from it, but there is a lot more positive stuff going on than there is negative,” John observes.
A published wildlife photographer, he was also involved in wildlife rescue for 25 years, generally for anything that “bites or pinches”, he quips.
“Someone once asked me, ‘What’s the one animal you haven’t seen in the wild? I said the barn owl, so I kind of made my mind up to concentrate on one [type of bird] and see if I can make a difference.”
After some study with the Barn Owl Trust in the UK, John did just that and set up The Barn Owl Project but is quick to stress many others have also been working in this area for years.
But what is it about the barn owl, or ‘scréachóg reilige’ as Gaeilge, that attracted him to dedicate himself to this elusive bird? John admits he is fascinated by the history of the barn owl, a nighttime hunter who generally nests in old buildings or in tree cavities.
“We all know the owl that flies across the screen on Friday for The Late Late Show is a barn owl. It is less known though that the famous call of the banshee is also the barn owl.
“If you’ve heard a barn owl out in a field at 2am or done a study in an old building or a castle to see what’s there and you hear a barn owl coming out screeching – it just goes through you.
“I was fascinated by all that stuff,” John continues.
Connecting with people through his conservation work has been really good for him personally, he admits, adding that some of the most special people he has met with have been farmers. Many will message about owl sightings, report nesting sites and put nesting boxes on their land or in old buildings.
A view of some barn owls rescued by The Barn Owl Project.
The farmer’s friend
One of only three owl species in Ireland, he says the most common place to see a barn owl in the past was on a fence post at the side of the road in a field or in a barn, when farmers went to feed cattle or take out hay.
“The reason for that is that they go in there to hunt small rodents. They were always known in Ireland as being ‘the farmer’s friend,’” he explains, adding that older stone farm buildings often have a square-shaped hole on the side gable for them to come in and out.
“People couldn’t afford to be using poisons, and anyway, they weren’t readily available. The owl would pop in there at night, the mice would be down eating the grain, and the owl would pick them off.”
One owl will eat 1,000 rats or mice in a year, he tells Irish Country Livinghence their value to the farmer in the past. However, when poisons became cheaper and more readily available and farming practices changed, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, with less grain and crops like sugar beet, their food sources declined and numbers fell to low levels.
While the numbers are up and down over the last few years, they have increased in the last decade, according to John, but he estimates there are still only 1,500 to 1,800 breeding pairs countrywide. “Numbers are nowhere near where they should be.”
He remains positive, though, with the “very good” ACRES scheme that can “only get better”, seeing thousands of farmers install nesting boxes on their land. This has resulted in heartwarming stories of people going to extraordinary lengths because they “love having the owls on the property”.
Education is a big part of his work, and he regularly gives talks to the public and to farmers and helps support local projects in different counties set up by volunteers. These groups link in with their work, doing surveys and working with landowners.
While not advocating having an owl as a pet, John does bring along Erin, the project’s owl, so people can see this beautiful bird up close and ask questions.
The big threats for the barn owl are being killed on the roads – they are the number one bird to be killed on Irish roads. Poisoning and the lack of nest sites are also key issues.
John cites a small study they did in conjunction with road maintenance crews on the motorway coming out of Galway to illustrate the road deaths point further.
“From Oranmore to Ballinasloe, over the space of just over a year there were 115 dead birds. This was captured from calls from the motorway crew, our own guys and the ambulance drivers who rang if they saw them at night. Galway would not be considered to be one of the counties with a lot of barn owls.
“The numbers are a lot higher than they were 10 years ago, but the problem with barn owls is that they are very susceptible to weather changes and changes in farming practices.
“If you get a week of wind and rain, that will do untold damage, especially during the breeding season. Barn owls can’t fly in the wind or rain, so therefore they can’t hunt. Barn owls in Ireland don’t carry fat in their body, so they really are at the point of starvation [without hunting], which is a struggle.”
Patrick Carrig, John’s brother who is also involved in The Barn Owl Project, pictured with a rescue barn owl.
So, what can counter some of the many challenges? John says at this time of year “hundreds of owls are looking for their home” after leaving the nest, so correctly installed nest boxes can attract them. Forward planning can really help too – putting in nest boxes ahead of time, if a nesting area has to be taken out.
He urges landowners to talk to their neighbours and work with them. “If you get owls on your site – let your neighbours know they’re there. They’ll benefit both of you,” he points out because they travel more than 5km to hunt prey like mice or shrews.
“It’s not always possible to avoid poison, but try everything else first,” he advises, saying that it’s estimated 95% of barn owls have been found with poison in their systems.
While protecting the barn owl is challenging work, for John it is hugely rewarding.
“For every win you get, for every positive interaction you get, it’s amazing,” and this, he agrees, is what keeps him going.
See thebarnowlproject.ie.
SHARING OPTIONS