Nocturnal raptor Barn owl is inextricably linked to the agricultural ecosystems, agriculture, farming practices, and the key agriculture managers: farmers and stockmen. That’s because for centuries now, Barn owl has chosen to nest, live and reproduce in buildings in agricultural areas.
The Barn owl nests on the roofs and ceilings of old stone buildings, brick houses, warehouses for storage of agricultural products, cooperative warehouses, silos, old abandoned factories, pig farms, aqueducts, bridges, and churches. It does not form some kind of nest, it just chooses a protected dark spot, and there it decides to lay its eggs and raise its young.
As a result, Barn owl is the most emblematic species of agricultural areas and one of the most important biodiversity indicators for agro-ecosystems. The fact that a Barn owl individual can hunt from 2,000 to 4,000 mice each year and that -as a species- it chooses to live and reproduce exclusively in agricultural ecosystems, renders Barn Owl as the farmer's most important, and as a natural control agent for pest rodents that cause major damage to agricultural crops each year.