News

Saving urban owls through the Owl Box Project

DAINFERN – The McCallum family are overjoyed that a family of Spotted Eagle Owls (Bubo africanus) have decided to call their chimney home.

Seasonal variation in home range size of evening bats in an urban environment

''We successfully tracked 30 bats over the 3-year period and found a positive correlation between home range size and temperature.'' Journal of Mammalogy, Ellen M Hall, Victoria J Bennett. Published: 13 October 2021

Sightings of Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus) further south this time of year.

"The first reports of Snowy Owls during the week began with a “possible” sighting on the west jetty Nov. 22. Earlier in November there was a sighting in Chatham. There were two on Cape Cod, at the south end of Nauset Beach, on Saturday. One was seen there on Sunday, so perhaps the other drifted across the sound to check out Nantucket."

Philippi residents say there is just no getting rid of the rats terrorising them in their homes. But the City of Cape Town has a plan to introduce owls to solve the problem.

South Africans Deploy Owls to Fight Rat Problem in Townships

By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A young barn owl looks bug-eyed in curiosity as a bird handler readies it for a new life - to be spent hunting the rats that plague South Africa's poor and mostly black urban areas.

South Africans Deploy Owls to Fight Rat Problem in Townships

A young barn owl looks bug-eyed in curiosity as a bird handler readies it for a new life - to be spent hunting the rats that plague South Africa's poor and mostly black urban areas.

Special Achievement Award

International Owl Center, Houston, Minnesota, is hosting the 16th Annual International Festival of Owls. Owlproject.org was nominated last year for the Special Achievement Award.

Sporting Clay: Misunderstood bats can be pest control ally

Despite their sometimes negative image - an image that is undeserved - the various species of bats native to Florida are among our best allies in pest control.

Spotted Eagle Owl Finds New Home at Dainfern Estate

Owlproject.org, an NPO dedicated to owl conservation through education, is pleased to announce the successful placement of a female Spotted Eagle Owl (Bubo africanus) in a release pen at Dainfern Estate.

Spotted Eagle Owls – They grow up so fast

RKG: Spotted Eagle Owl (Bubo africanus) eggs hatch between 30 and 32 days and develop into fully fledged owlets in the next 45 to 55 days.

Spotted Eagle Owls: Keep the romance alive

RKG: Giving a Hoot – An article on the courtship behaviour of spotted eagle owls.

Spotted Eagle Owls new start

The shortest day is significant for Spotted Eagle Owls (Bubo africanus) as the change in the photoperiod is the hormonal trigger that ‘kicks’ them into breeding condition.

Spring Newsletter 2016

'It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems" Rainer Maria Rilke

St Andrew's School for Girls releases Spotted Eagle Owlets

Two juvenile Spotted Eagle Owls from the SPCA have found a new home at the school. The owls were brought to the school on 25th October and will stay in a pen for 21 days before being released.

St Benedict’s College schoolboy fights rodent infestation with barn owl boxes

''A Grade 9 schoolboy, Kavin Kassie, from St. Benedict’s College, has championed an owl box initiative to combat a rodent problem at Marlboro Secondary School.''

Stables provide the perfect place for growing owlets

Two Barn Owl chicks were ringed thanks to a decade of dedicated monitoring and regular owl box servicing. This is exactly why annual maintenance matters - for the owls and for long-term conservation.

Starke Ayres - Creating a safe haven for owls

Started in 2016, this has been such a valuable and worthwhile collaboration. Results from our annual owl pellet collection and analysis reveal that the 15 occupied owl boxes at Starke Ayres are responsible for the consumption of over 9000 rats p/a.