How to Install a Barn Owl House Perch

The barn owl hunts only at night.

If you hear a barn owl at all, you are likely to hear hisses and shrieks, although they are sometimes known to "hoot." It is more likely, however, that you will not even know this night hunter is your neighbor. Barn owls like snug houses, but nothing fancy is required. They will nest in almost any cavity and line it themselves with bones and feathers of their prey. Because a nesting pair and their several young may consume up to 3,000 rodents during a breeding a season, it is well worth the effort to make them feel at home.

Things You'll Need

• Wooden owl box with fixing points on top and bottom
• Ladder
• 2 steel screws or bolts
• Screwdriver or pliers

Instructions

1. 

   Barn owls return to the same nests if not disturbed.

   Choose an area of low human activity. Owls will tolerate some noise, but if a sitting female is frightened away from her eggs, she may not return. The site should also be at least one mile from any highway to avoid owl fatalities.

2. Select a site 10 to 15 feet off the ground for the box or perch. Choose isolated trees in pastureland facing away from the woods, or trees in hedgerows. In areas where there are no trees, site the boxes on the side of buildings. Because owl fecal material corrodes metal, the site should be some distance from where you park your vehicle.

3. 

   Baby owls are called owlets.

   Place the box with the entrance door opening away from the prevailing winds and ensure a clear flight path to the box entrance. A tree is preferable to a post because branches provide protection from the summer sun for the owlets. Tree branches also hide young owls from predators during their first weeks out of the nest.

4. Attach the box to the tree using the screws or bolts---one at the top and one at the bottom on the fixing points. Tighten them securely to prevent the box from moving. Because male owls often roost in a separate place during breeding season, you may install a second box about 100 feet away.

5. Clean bones and debris from the box in June when the last owlets have left the nest. Check the box again in late November to be sure wasps have not nested in it. Kill any bees or wasps with a pyrethrin based insecticide.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't go near the box during egg laying season---early February through early March.

• Be careful when cleaning out owl boxes. Wear rubber gloves and a dust mask. Deer mice carry hantavirus and it may be present on bones found on the floor of the boxes.

References

• Biodiversity Products: Using Barn Owls for Rodent Control
• Wild Owl: Educating on the Conservation of Wild British Owls
• Wild Owl: Installing a Barn Own Nest Box