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Owl box?


chrisjpainter
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Has anyone made an owl box? I have some left over bits of pallet wood after a fishing rod rack and wondered about making an owl box. We have an oak tree out the back of the house. It looks out over pasture, with woods close by. We've heard tawnies and littles around and it wouldn't surprise me if there's the odd barn around too, so I think the habitat's okay. Anyone got any advice out there? building, siting, treating, any tips and hints welcome

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Good idea, I should really make one as well as we've got plenty of tawnies about and often see the fledged young.

I wouldn't risk treating the box, but I'd use something like larch which will last a fairly long time.

Plenty of plans about, this warning from the Barn Owl trust is worth noting:  "It’s worth remembering that Tawny Owls are highly territorial and will protect the nest site fiercely so full face and head protection is recommended even outside the breeding season." https://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/barn-owl-nestbox/tawny-owl-nestbox/

BTO plans also look helpful. https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/tawny-owl-nest-box-plan.pdf

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50 minutes ago, Windswept said:

Plenty of plans about, this warning from the Barn Owl trust is worth noting:  "It’s worth remembering that Tawny Owls are highly territorial and will protect the nest site fiercely so full face and head protection is recommended even outside the breeding season."

This could kybosh the location I had in mind as it was for Tawny owls.:unhappy:

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1 hour ago, Yellow Bear said:

This could kybosh the location I had in mind as it was for Tawny owls.

I've never had a problem and it's not unusual to see a pair in the woods that are a few meters away from our house.

On a different note, I saw what I think was a young tawny in another woodland and it was being mobbed and chased off by a pair of jays and then a pair of magpies. This was mid morning.

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14 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

If you contact the owl trust they may help or even give you a box?

I've dropped the barn owl trust an email already and you can download plans from the website, so once they get back to me with some ideas I might be able to crack on. I sent them a few photos an idea of the geography of the area, so we'll see what they recommend. I think I'd rather have a bash at making my own, especially as I have a few raw materials just sitting here, but we'll see what they say!

Good thinking on the owl trust. I'll see what they say too

Edited by chrisjpainter
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Best pf luck.  As said above there is ....I calculate after a number of tries....about a 5% chance you will get an owl. kestrel yes, tree rats yes... WASPS definitely BUT that does not mean you should not try.  Built a number over the years and have friends who have boxes and as yet never had an owl take a look. A number of kestrels and as said in capitals on one occasion a huge wasp nest.   I think it is ..location location location ...

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On 21/11/2020 at 15:10, Windswept said:

Plenty of plans about, this warning from the Barn Owl trust is worth noting:  "It’s worth remembering that Tawny Owls are highly territorial and will protect the nest site fiercely so full face and head protection is recommended even outside the breeding season."

That is a bit H&S overkill and if you are not planning to check the box with a stick at any time then you will be quite safe.  We checked our boxes regularly at nesting time and rung the youngsters and you just scrape the edge of the box and the owl will usually vacate.

We built and sited dozens of boxes (mainly for tawnies) when I was in Scotland and they take them readily.  Get the siting right and always ensure there is a suitable branch next to the box entrance so youngsters can easily start to leave the box and branch, which they do at a quite early age.  Alternatively affix a branch or piece of wood by the entrance if no natural branch there.

Once you site the box put some sawdust or leaf debris in the base.  To avoid squirrels taking the box, get some soiled sawdust from someone's ferret hutch and spread some in the box - squirrels do not use them with the scent of the ferret!

Box should be at least 12 foot off the ground.

If you have a local population and you get the box and site right, they will use it.

Edited by Mickeydredd
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1 hour ago, Mickeydredd said:

That is a bit H&S overkill and if you are not planning to check the box with a stick at any time then you will be quite safe.  We checked our boxes regularly at nesting time and rung the youngsters and you just scrape the edge of the box and the owl will usually vacate.

We built and sited dozens of boxes (mainly for tawnies) when I was in Scotland and they take them readily.  Get the siting right and always ensure there is a suitable branch next to the box entrance so youngsters can easily start to leave the box and branch, which they do at a quite early age.  Alternatively affix a branch or piece of wood by the entrance if no natural branch there.

Once you site the box put some sawdust or leaf debris in the base.  To avoid squirrels taking the box, get some soiled sawdust from someone's ferret hutch and spread some in the box - squirrels do not use them with the scent of the ferret!

Box should be at least 12 foot off the ground.

If you have a local population and you get the box and site right, they will use it.

That's really useful, thanks. I'm torn between the species at the moment. I know tawnies and littles are around, but the position is probably better suited to a barn owl box. The nearest woods are only 300yards (as the Wol flies) but my guess is there are plenty of nesting sites there for tawnies. open pasture and grassland make it great for barns (and kestrels). Have you any suggestions of what sort of box would be a good all rounder?

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The style and size will be dependent upon your targeted species.  Being from Scotland I have no experience of little owls, and you need to be sure you have barn owls on the ground really to warrant putting up a barn owl box.  
 

barn owl boxes are best in barns really but if you have tree nesters in the area (usually holes in ash trees along the field edge) then you could try putting a box on such a tree.  The style of box is different to a tawny box so have a look online at the designs for the various species.

The tawny box designs will also usually suit kestrels too so you have double the chance of occupancy.  You may also have to evict jackdaws and stock doves as they take them too.

 

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49 minutes ago, Mickeydredd said:

The style and size will be dependent upon your targeted species.  Being from Scotland I have no experience of little owls, and you need to be sure you have barn owls on the ground really to warrant putting up a barn owl box.  
 

barn owl boxes are best in barns really but if you have tree nesters in the area (usually holes in ash trees along the field edge) then you could try putting a box on such a tree.  The style of box is different to a tawny box so have a look online at the designs for the various species.

The tawny box designs will also usually suit kestrels too so you have double the chance of occupancy.  You may also have to evict jackdaws and stock doves as they take them too.

 

Would this on the left be the sort of thing? The little owl box is altogether smaller, but my suspicion is there's not enough cover around the tree for littles. It seems barn owls are a little more happy to tolerate ambient noise around them, even on tree sites, which might be a plus, but I think it's probably the less likely species to be around! oh the conundrum. 

image.png.37aca8c10fefb91438ecf3f6ac9cebfd.png

I could just make three different ones (if I have the wood) and see which one gets used! Second prize of a kestrel would be cool, but I suspect corvids might be the most likely. I have found a supplier of ferret bedding though, so things are moving! 

Being pallet wood, it's not the most durable of stuff; would treating it with something put off potential inmates?

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Let me see if I can find any pics of ours, although I think they will be on an old laptop!!

this is the only owl that sat tight when we checked our boxes, clearly due to have her first chick fairly recently hatched.  This wasnt one of our boxes, it was a little narrow tbh, but still used clearly!

 

Tawny 1.jpg

Edited by Mickeydredd
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12 hours ago, chrisjpainter said:

Would this on the left be the sort of thing? The little owl box is altogether smaller, but my suspicion is there's not enough cover around the tree for littles. It seems barn owls are a little more happy to tolerate ambient noise around them, even on tree sites, which might be a plus, but I think it's probably the less likely species to be around! oh the conundrum. 

I could just make three different ones (if I have the wood) and see which one gets used! Second prize of a kestrel would be cool, but I suspect corvids might be the most likely. I have found a supplier of ferret bedding though, so things are moving! 

Being pallet wood, it's not the most durable of stuff; would treating it with something put off potential inmates?

The box on the left would suit a tawny.  Kestrel would not take it, needs to be an open fronted box.

We just painted it with brown fence paint.

 

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Also, don't worry about noise, this natural nest was only about 10 feet up on a roadside beech tree but facing into the field.  It was a very open hole that you could easily take a photo into!  It is more around disturbance than noise as such that would put them off.   They want to breed and if there are no suitable nest sites around then they will use yours.

 

Tawny tree.jpg

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