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The Barn Owl is found worldwide in areas with mild winters. In Canada, it is restricted to southwestern British Columbia and southern Ontario. The species is not well monitored in Canada, but because of threats to its habitat, a likely population decline, and the species' small population size, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada assessed the eastern population as Endangered and recently revised the status of the western population from Special Concern to Threatened (COSEWIC 2010i). This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
Barn Owl populations in Canada face a number of threats. The first of these is harsh winter weather; the species does not fare well when there are long periods of deep snow cover which limit the birds' ability to hunt (Marti et al. 2005). Habitat loss through urbanization and intensification of agriculture is a major issue over much of its range, as is the loss of nest sites when old barns and other structures are modernised (Marti et al. 2005, COSEWIC 1999). Collisions with vehicles on highways is an important and increasing source of mortality (Marti et al. 2005, COSEWIC 1999). Barn Owls have the highest road mortality rates among raptors (Boves and Belthoff 2012, Borda-de-Agua et al. 2014). Females and juveniles are most likely to be killed because they may disperse over longer distances (Boves and Belthoff 2012). Finally, the risk of Barn Owls consuming rodenticide-laden prey is of increasing concern due to the toxicity and persistence of widely-used second generation rodenticides (Newton et al. 1991, Albert et al. 2009). For information on the legal status of this species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and to view available recovery documents, see the SARA Registry.
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.