News: Short & sweet / archive
July to September 2026

Nine Little Owl chicks and several successful broods: our Little Owl conservation project is yielding encouraging results …

During this year’s Little Owl monitoring programme in the Paderborn District, our Little Owl conservation project manager made several encouraging observations. A total of five adult birds and nine Little Owl chicks were recorded in the nesting tubes we had installed. Our staff have never before documented so many Little Owls in the Paderborn region in a single day’s work.

The results confirm the success of our conservation work. Many of the Little Owl nesting boxes installed by the Foundation Pro Biodiversity since 2019 have already been taken up during the first breeding season – a clear indication that suitable nesting and breeding sites remain in short supply and that it makes sense to install more Little Owl nesting boxes in suitable locations.

The Little Owl chicks recorded in mid-June 2026 provided some interesting insights: experience suggests that young birds should already be fledged by mid-June, yet this year many of the chicks found were still covered in soft down. We suspect that the comparatively cool spring and the resulting food shortage delayed the start of breeding. The supply of mice now found in the nesting tubes and the excellent condition of both the adult and young owls suggest that food is currently plentiful.

The success of this monitoring programme once again demonstrates how important it is to combine nature-friendly habitat management, expert site selection, and regular checks of the nest boxes. Every successful record of breeding encourages us to continue our targeted efforts to support the Little Owl as a characteristic species of the pollarded tree and orchard meadow landscape in East Westphalia, with a view to further strengthening the Little Owl population.