The occurrence of the Barn Owl Tyto alba insacred buildings in central-eastern Poland

The occurrence of Barn Owl Tyto alba isstrongly connected with the presence ofbuildings with suitable apertures for nestingor roosting (de Bruijn 1994, Shawyer1994). In Poland this species breeds mainlyin tall sacred buildings (Kopij 1990,Kitowski 1999). The main reason for theBarn Owl population decline is loss ofsuitable breeding sites. In recent years thisprocess has accelerated because attics andtowers have been renovated, reducingBarn Owl access (Kitowski 1999). Theaims of this study were to determinechanges in Barn Owl numbers in sacredbuildings and to specify nest site selectionpreferences.

A. Golawski & Kowalski, ORNIS HUNGARICA 12-13: 1-2 (2003)