"When we look at the tracks they make through the landscape, we know they use a few different patches of forest that are seemingly disconnected except for a thin strip of trees along river systems," he says.If the green corridors contract more to make way for development, the owls may no longer be able to link the fragments of good habitat that remain.
"I suspect what will happen is the amount of habitat will start to dwindle to a point where they can't connect up the bits, or it will drop below a threshold and they may well just naturally die out of those areas," Dr White says.Powerful wingbeats Once they've heard the reassuring 'beep beep' of the radio transmitter component of the tracker, it's time to release the owl.For a moment the only sound is the air being thumped by her huge wings as flies to a nearby perch, and then Dr White chuckles, indicating he's captured the perfect action shot of the release."She'll go off and forage for the rest of the night, and maybe meet up with the male again," Mr Bradsworth says.