The Wildlife Society published an article in June 2024 titled “JWM: For Barn Owls, Roads Disrupt Country Living,” citing the publication of “Roads Reduce Breeding Occupancy and Productivity in Barn Owls” in The Journal of Wildlife Management. The online article and cited published research feature the work of Brian Busby (MS, Raptor Biology, ’22) and owl expert Jim Belthoff (Boise State University Raptor Research Center, Biological Sciences) on the owls’ nesting success relative to roadways, nest box placement, and farmland in southwest Idaho. The Journal of Wildlife Management selected a photo of a barn owl taken by recent Raptor Research Center employee Amanda Hancock as the cover photo for the issue that included Busby and Belthoff’s publication. Logistical support for the research was provided by Boise State Univerity’s Raptor Research Center.
The online article begins, “As Idaho’s Treasure Valley booms, residential development isn’t just on the rise for people. Barn owls have gotten a lot of new housing, too. But all the new development could carry costs for the owls, researchers found, especially when it comes to roads…”
Read Busby et al.’s Published Research (Note: full article may be subject to a paywall)