This substantial
book aims to be comprehensive, an indispensable guide for ecologists,
surveyors, land managers and ornithologists. At almost 400 detailed pages, it
is remarkably thorough. Its nine chapters cover ecology, legal aspects,
surveys, habitat creation and management, accommodation for barn owls,
mortality, planning issues and injury and rehabilitation. It is full of case
studies and practical examples of barn owl conservation in action. For me this
is one of the most winning aspects of this book: it keeps the practicalities of
barn owl conservation in view at all times.
Inevitably in a
book with a number of authors, I found the writing patchy, and some sections
were not as engaging as perhaps I would have liked. It is a heavyweight tome at
a heavy price, so it will pass by most general readers. But this is a handbook
designed to draw together a mass of material in one place, a source of information
rather than of bedtime reading. As such it contains a wealth of information of
interest to its target audience and beyond. Perhaps also, despite the
challenges that humans inadvertently put in the path of barn owl survival, like
motorways, it is an uplifting tribute to the energy and commitment that so many
people have devoted to the cause of this beautiful bird.
This review by James Robertson appeared in the winter edition of Natur Cymru.
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