We have been established since January 1997. Our aims & objectives are effective & all can benefit from what we do as an Owl Conservation Charity.
Education
This plays a huge part of our work, for the charity we feel it is very important that education should be fun, enjoyable & interactive. Our resident birds play an important part in our educational work as it brings people much closer to the species we actually work with & support, more so through our pre-booked Owl Experiences.
We have clear itineraries that are tailored to suit the requirements of everyone we meet including anyone with any special needs. We have friendly staff who are always on hand do their best to support peoples interests.
With regards to the resident birds at the Cenre, topics covered are flight, sound, wild habitats, diets. nest boxes, Owl pellets & much more. In addition we also cover topics relating to wildlife that live within the Barn owl Centre's new Nature Reserve, this can be insect & plant life, mammals & birds.
We work to support the interest of many people covering all different age groups.
This can be, Farmers/Landowners, Schools, Children’s Parties, Adult Groups, Corporate Groups, Children's Groups & most important Disabled Groups.
Conservation
Since 1997 we have had a dedicated Conservation team that work in the countryside to support Barn Owls & other species of Owl & birds of prey. We offer advice locally & nationally, the local project areas we work on cover: Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Wiltshire & Oxfordshire. From 1997 to 2008 we have positioned well over 1200 nest boxes at projects sites to help provide nest sites, with great success too.
When visiting the Centre you make an important contribution to the work we do in support of Wild Barn Owls, other British Owl species & Birds of Prey. By generating extra revenue from visitors we can continue to fund the many projects we have in place. In addition to a visit we are on hand to offer the advice on species identification, habitat requirements & prey species. etc. Nest Boxes are also available for sale if required. If you are looking to support your localised Owl population & Kestrels, why not set up a nest box project in your area. We can help with this if this is required.
Acquiring a Nest Box.
All our boxes are made at the Centre within our own workshop by our conservation team
Click here to view some of the Nest Boxes we have positioned at a few project sites.
Bird Welfare.
We support our resident birds, not by keeping them in their aviaries 24 hours a day, we train them to leave the aviary to fly. This is of great importantce to the birds plus it creates more interaction with our keepers & over time the birds re-gain trust in people who support them.
As a charity we work closely with the most common species people breed in captivity. This helps us to gain an important level of experience to assist with problems that occur when people go out & buy a bird of prey as a pet, this is common practice but it soon becomes sad when people don't weigh up the long term commitment when taking a bird on.
Supporting Wild Rescues & their Rehabilitation
We offer care & support to wild bird casualties that are brought in to us for treatment & rehabilitation. We pride ourselves on our rehabilitation work & it is always a pleasure when we are able to release wild casualties back to the wild where they belong. All wild birds are always kept off public display & away from the public, this is important because it is illegal to publically display a wild bird for commercial gain. The aim of true rehabilitation is to support the bird & to get it back to wild once it is fit & well, this must be done with minimal human interferance if it is to survive once re-released.
Summary:
Education on Captive Bred Issues: Awareness, rescue & rehabilitation, training & issues relating to bird welfare. All birds housed at the Centre play an important educational role to all programs.
Education on Wild Issues: Owl ecology, habitat, prey species, Owl Pellets & the importance of nest boxes. All conservation work we undertake, together with the data we collect whilst out in the field, is proving to be of great importance to both Education & Owl Conservation.
Education, Conservation & Bird Welfare.
