Wingspan Birds of Prey Trust has erected 12 nest boxes in the area to provide potential nest and roost sites for offspring from the pair. Other threats include intensive farming practices in the vicinity of the nest tree, domestic and feral cats, swamp harriers, possums and mustelids, and the use of anticoagulant rodenticides. When caught out in daylight, the barn owls in Northland have been harassed by magpies. In Kaitaia a recently fledged barn owl was found with a broken wing probably caused by a collision with a wire fence, and an adult bird found dead with lacerations to its wing, likely the result of barbed wire. Wire fences and vehicle collisions are likely to be a threat to barn owls in New Zealand. Accepted records include: Barrytown 1947, Haast 1955, Rununga 1960, Papatoetoe 1983, Auckland International airport 1985, Hokitika 1988, Christchurch 1989, South Kaipara Heads 1990, New Plymouth 1991, Whenuapai 1992, Waikato 2001, Lyttelton 2001, and Kaitaia 2008. There are thirteen records for New Zealand including the breeding pair near Kaitaia. Recent reports to Wingspan include South Brighton (Christchurch), Kumeu, Whenuapai, Hunua Ranges, Pokeno, and across Northland. The current nest tree entrance is c.11 m above ground level in an old puriri tree. The adults and fledglings have been observed roosting in the small stands of native trees in the vicinity of the nest tree and up to 6 km away. Their surrounding habitat consists mainly of long kikuyu grass dairy pasture with numerous drains. The Kaitaia barn owls nest in open woodland within an open grass farmland matrix. Evidence of captive-bred cage escapees near Auckland during the 1990s, and the ability of barn owls to disperse widely, makes it difficult to deduce the origin of the pair established near Kaitaia. They have arrived in New Zealand by a variety of means, including as windblown stragglers, and on aircraft and ships. In New Zealand they have been recorded at scattered locations throughout the country, particularly on the West Coast. The barn owl’s loud hissing screech could possibly be confused with some brush-tailed possum vocalisations.īarn owls are widespread on mainland Australia and on the islands of the Southwest Pacific. Similar species: there are no other medium-sized pale owls in New Zealand, and so the barn owl cannot be confused with the smaller darker native morepork and the even smaller little owl. Recently fledged juveniles call more plaintive and higher pitched than adults. The long legs are fully covered with white feathers, down to the greyish toes. The throat, breast and belly are white below with some dark spots. Its crown, nape, back and upper-wings are orangey buff and grey, delicately marked with white spots. The barn owl is a very pale, medium-sized owl with a distinctive white, heart-shaped face, black eyes and a pale bill. Some barn owls are thought to have flown to New Zealand from Australia, while others are known or presumed to have arrived as stowaways on aircraft and ships. The nearest populations outside of New Zealand are in Australia and the islands of the Southwest Pacific. Single birds have been recorded in New Zealand on a dozen occasions since 1947, and since 2008 a single pair has bred in Northland. Barn owls are the most widely distributed species of owl in the world, breeding on all continents except Antarctica.
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