At the bedside of the owls. In the Nord and Pas-de-Calais, everyone is doing their best to protect these birds of prey, owls and owls. This week, a farm in Steenwerck, in the North, installed a nesting box on its property. It is one of the 11 farms selected this year by the ornithological group of the North (GON) to participate in the operation “Welcome owls to our farms”.
It has been six years since the regional chamber of agriculture launched this European project which is gaining momentum at the local level. “We started with the Cambrésis, underlines Sophie Grassien, biodiversity advisor to the chamber. Today, 169 nesting boxes have been installed by 112 farmers, in a win-win approach”. Because owls have the advantage of regulating the population of small rodents, called “pests” in the agricultural world. A good auxiliary of culture, therefore.
A dozen occupied nesting boxes
So far, only about ten nesting boxes have actually been occupied by owls. “It will take a few more years to measure the evolution of these two species in the region”, continues the Chamber of Agriculture. Because farmers are not the only ones to provide breeding homes. Individuals are taking part in a similar operation carried out by five local authorities from the two northern departments.
Thus, nearly 50 new nesting boxes were also installed this year in the community of Flanders Interior municipalities (CCFI), around Hazebrouck, in order to participate in the repopulation of owls in the sector. “All you need is a fairly high shed, an old attic or an old tree with a branch parallel to the ground, not too high,” says Melissa Toussaint, CCFI’s environmental advisor.
The owners then undertake to follow the evolution of the nest box, in particular its occupation, to feed a regional database. “We provide technical assistance, underlines Baptiste Boutilleux, from the GON. Every fall, when we are sure that the young have fledged, we will check to see if the nesting boxes have been taken over by birds. »
According the observatory of the bird protection league (LPO), the little owl is on the red list in the “declining” category and the barn owl is becoming alarmingly rare. If the disappearance of their habitat (hedges and natural meadows) is indeed a threat to owls, the increasing use of pesticides and rodenticides (to kill rodents) is also contributing to their decline.