Owl Box

There are seven species of owls that regularly occur at various times of year in northcentral Pennsylvania: great horned, barred, barn, long-eared, eastern screech, saw-whet and short-eared. Even the short-eared owl breeds here, but only at two sites; most shortys come south in winter in search of food.

There's usually also an influx of saw-whets during the winter as northern birds come south in search of the small rodents on which they feed. We occasionally get one or more snowy owls during the winter when they drift south from the arctic.

Of the seven species that are regularly found here, the short-eared owl and barred owl are my favorites – probably because those are the owls I see most often. Short-eared owls are open-country birds, hunting and nesting in hayfields and marshes. Barred owls are birds of the woodlands, preferring cavities in large trees for nesting and roosting.

The many acres of the forests surrounding our son and daughter-in-law’s place is suitable habitat for barred owls –

But those woodlands don't have an abundance of large trees containing cavities.

So, having a stack of used lumber in the garage, it was time for me to make a nesting/roosting box suitable for a barred owl. Plans for these boxes are readily available – here’s one from the Minnesota DNR’s Woodcrafting for Wildlife –

The wood I had was what’s sold as spruce-pine-fir, not at all decay resistant; I used some scraps of drip edge and left over shingles to help keep rain and snow off the roof, and modified the plan to create a slanted roof to shed rain more effectively. These modifications should help the box last longer –

A branch was fastened to the front of the box because young owls do what is called “branching”. The owlets leave the nest before they can fly and spend several weeks clambering on tree branches; the parents continue to feed them until the owlets get stronger and learn to fly.

We went north for a visit and one fine day our son, who has a wealth of climbing experience, went up a sugar maple to install the owl box –

Hopefully, a barred owl will find the box suitable and raise some owlets in the cozy abode.