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<p>WATSONTOWN &#8212; For a five-year period culminating in 2013, barn owls had a pretty good run in the northeast region.</p><p>The Pennsylvania Game Commission found an average of 11 active nests each year in Northumberland, Montour and Columbia counties, with a high of 13 nests in 2012.</p><p>After 2013, however, the numbers dropped to six nests in 2014 and only five this year.</p><p>Why?</p><p>According to Richard Fritsky, a wildlife diversity biologist with the PGC, the drop in barn owl nests was seen in other regions as well and for now the cause is speculative.</p><p>&#8220;It could be because of the very harsh winter and the impact on rodent populations, which is the primary food for barn owls,&#8221; Fritsky said.</p><p>There could be other variables as well, such as public involvement. The PGC&#8217;s Barn Owl Conservation Initiative relies on public involvement to let the agency know where the reclusive owls may be. Fritsky said it&#8217;s not a research project where biologists systematically survey areas for nests, so public involvement plays a big role in how many nests are found in a given year.</p><p>If suitable habitat exists - namely large blocks of grasslands for the owls to hunt and plenty of old barns and silos where they prefer to reside, the agency may erect a barn owl nest box.</p><p>Earlier this month, Fritsky ventured to the expansive farmlands of Northumberland County to visit a few nests where landowners made the agency aware that barn owls were in the area.</p><p>The first stop was a barn owned by dairy farmer Gary Truckenmiller where the PGC erected a nest box in 2009 that has produced young barn owls every year since but once. The box is attached to a wall inside the barn above the granary. As Fritsky climbed up and slowly opened the lid, he was greeted by the veracious hissing of young barn owls. There were five in all, bringing the total to 19 barn owls that have been reared in the box since 2010.</p><p>&#8220;This is a great place for barn owls because there is a lot of surrounding grass fields in CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) which provides good cover for rodents year round and good hunting for the owls,&#8221; Fritsky said.</p><p>Each of the young barn owls was removed from the box and Fritsky gave each a general health assessment. He then weighed and banded each owl, plucked a breast feather for a DNA sample and measured a primary wing feather to determine age.</p><p>While Fritsky worked, he spoke to a small crowd that had gathered to watch informing them of what he was doing.</p><p>The public outreach component, Fritsky said, it critical.</p><p>&#8220;If you tell people about the importance of barn owls, perhaps you&#8217;ll get permission to put up more boxes,&#8221; he said. &#8220;At the very least, they&#8217;ll be on the lookout for barn owls and call us if they see anything.&#8221;</p><p>Truckenmiller said he heard of barn owls in neighboring barns and contacted the Game Commission about erecting a nest box at his site. The second year after the box was installed, owls moved in a eggs hatched.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s exciting to follow the young to when they fly,&#8221; Truckenmiller said. &#8220;I like having them around. I used to see one of the adults sitting a big walnut tree when I&#8217;d go out to milk every morning at 3:30 a.m.&#8221;</p><p>Barn owl numbers have dropped over the last 20 years and they&#8217;re considered a species of special concern in the state. Fritsky said there are no known nests in the western part of the state and the majority are in the southeast.</p><p>Locally, there are 22 sites in the northeast that have had active barn owl nests in the last five years. Some of the sites may have eggs, but if they don&#8217;t hatch or the young don&#8217;t survive it isn&#8217;t considered a successful nest.</p><p>That was the case at another nest site down the road from Truckenmiller&#8217;s barn. A check earlier this summer revealed six eggs in the nest box, but the follow-up visit turned up nothing but a single pigeon egg.</p><p>&#8220;My guess is something got in there and ate the eggs,&#8221; Fritsky said. &#8220;Squirrels, cats or raccoons are all possibilities.&#8221;</p><p>In addition to the known active nest sites, Fritsky routinely fields calls from landowners about barn owl sightings. Each report is checked out but rarely do they yield barn owls. A recent report from Bradford County turned up barn owl feathers and pellets but no nest. Another report in Susquehanna County, where a nest box was in place, showed it was being used by kestrels.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve gotten calls from places that are surrounded by woods, but barn owls won&#8217;t reside there,&#8221; Fritsky said. &#8220;They&#8217;re strictly a grassland species.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Biologist Rich Fritsky holds a juvenile barn owl that was banded and returned to its nest box inside a barn in Watsontown. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_barn-owl-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Biologist Rich Fritsky holds a juvenile barn owl that was banded and returned to its nest box inside a barn in Watsontown. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tom Venesky| Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_barn-owl-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Biologist Rich Fritsky looks over a juvenile barn owl before weighing and banding the bird. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_barn-owl-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Biologist Rich Fritsky looks over a juvenile barn owl before weighing and banding the bird. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tom Venesky| Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_barn-owl1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A juvenile barn owl with downy plummage that was one of five inside a nest box in a barn in Watsontown. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_barn-owl1.jpg</photo2><caption2>A juvenile barn owl with downy plummage that was one of five inside a nest box in a barn in Watsontown. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tom Venesky| Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Where do they live?</strong></p><p>True to their name, barn owls reside in barns and abandoned silos. Installing a nest box is easy, according to Richard Fritsky, but they should be elevated off the ground to deter predators. Barn owls will use nest boxes even in barns that are being used.</p><p>In a silo, barn owls sometimes nest on the ground. Fritsky said this is fine as long as the silo doors are kept closed to prevent cats from entering.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>VIDEO</strong></p><p>To see video of Biologist Rich Fritsky banding a barn owl, visit the online version of this story at timesleader.com</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table class="mceItemTable" style="border:none;width:98%;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;">DMig_LPoNT4 </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;">YOUTUBE</p><p></td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Barn owls have become a concern for the Pennsylvania Game Commission