The British Trust for Ornithology
LITTLE OWL
Athene noctua
 Little Owl © Tommy Holden
Conservation Listings

Unlisted/Green
Biodiversity Steering Group: Unlisted
Long term trend
UK: Uncertain
Status Summary
The CBC trend for Little Owl shows fluctuations but no clear trend over the long term, as does the BBS for the late 1990s. However, these trends may not be very reliable because the species is crepuscular or nocturnal and therefore not ideally suited to standard survey methods. A population estimate of c. 7,000 pairs from the BTO/Hawk & Owl Trust's Project Barn Owl (Toms et al. 2000) is the first replicable and reliable estimate for the UK. Although annual sample sizes are small, there are no trends evident in breeding performance for the species.
Table of population changes for Little Owl
Source Period
(yrs)		 Years Plots
(n)		 Change
(%)		 Lower
limit		 Upper
limit		 Alert Comment
CBC all habitats 31 1968-1999 29 -31 -57 12    
  25 1974-1999 30 -9 -39 34    
  10 1989-1999 28 -17 -39 7    
  5 1994-1999 28 -5 -22 16    
BBS UK 6 1994-2000 89 8 -17 41    
BBS England 6 1994-2000 86 11 -16 46    
The Breeding Bird Survey is jointly funded by BTO, JNCC and RSPB
Table of productivity information for Little Owl
Variable Period
(yrs)		 Years Mean
annual
sample		 Trend Predicted
in first year		 Predicted
in last year		 Change Comment
Clutch size 31 1968-1999 16 None       Small sample
Brood size 31 1968-1999 36 Linear increase 2.51 chicks 2.8 chicks 0.29 chicks  
Daily failure rate (eggs) 31 1968-1999 15 None       Small sample
Daily failure rate (chicks) 31 1968-1999 19 None       Small sample

 

Insufficient data on laying dates
available for this species

 

 

Insufficient data on CES
available for this species

 




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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Crick, H.Q.P., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Leech, D.I., Marchant, J.H.,
Noble, D.G., Raven, M.J., Simpkin, A.P., Thewlis, R.M. and Wernham, C.V. (2002) Breeding Birds in the Wider
Countryside: their conservation status 2001. BTO Research Report No. 278. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

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