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Build an Owl Nest Box

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Attracting Owls to your Area Starts at Home!

This is a project that will require patience, and some research. You are dealing with a wild animal, and they are going to love or hate your Owl Nest Box, depending on how carefully you think about the process. Your first concern should be your location, and what kind of owl you may be hosting in your Owl Nest Box.

If you live in an area where there are lots of trees, you are in luck. Most owls that nest in trees would be very interested in your Nest Box. There are some areas of North America where Owls Nest in low lying areas, and plains. They will not be interested in an enclosed Nest Box. Of course, you could try to build one for your Snowy Owl or your Burrowing Owl, chances are, they would be less than interested, and you will be hosting some other birds.

If you have the money, you may want to invest in adding a web camera into the box. Their are many good wireless web cameras that you can use to connect to your home computer network. The great thing about a web camera, or web cam, you will be able to see what is going on in the box. The Owlets will be born, and you will be able to participate in their growth and activities. Some Owls will have only one brood of Owlets, others will decide their is enough food, and will mate again.

Owls have been known to practice birth control if the area is low in food. Having a family is not a matter of importance when food is low. If you have rodents and other owl food available in your location, you will be lucky to have an Owl move into your Owl Nest Box, as they will be great reducer of mice, rats and other rodents. They can quickly kill just as many mice as any man made mouse trapping process.

Owls in Your Area

First Things first...

Northern Hawk OwlBefore you begin buying wood, and picking a tree, you need to learn what Owls are in your area. And, your location for your Owl Nest Box needs to be far enough from your home or other people, but close enough for you to receive a signal if you are using a webcam. This information can be found from doing a bit of Owl research, and spending some time outdoors. Most owls are most active at dusk, and can be seen if you adjust your eyes to the darkness, and just listen. A tape or digital recorder can be really helpful to later identify your owl population.

You will need to read as much as you can about Owls, and consider what kinds are in your area, what they eat, and their personal preferences. A Barn Owl may have different requirements from an Eastern Screech-Owl. A Barred Owl may be the Owl in your location, as it is a mostly wet area. Find out what Owls are populating your location, and read and ask questions. It is really important, as you may have few Owls or the wrong kind to Nest in Your Built Owl Box.

Secondly, you will need to pick a great quiet and good location. If the area is busy in the summer with fireworks and such, your Owlets may be abandoned. Some owls will not be happy with any human foot traffic just 100 feet of her nest. Some Owls are OK with these distances, but it is a good idea to be as high up as is necessary, and that it is a quiet nursery for the Owlets. Be sure to find a tree that can handle the 50 pounds of Owl Nest Box, and will not be affected by your addition. A good rule of thumb is to try for a height of 15 feet or more.

If you have Wood Working Skills

Here is a Brief Introduction

Wood WorkingYour Owl Nest Box should be constructed to allow easy access for both the Male and the Female Owls, as they often work together to help the Owlets grow and survive. For this reason, you will need a 4 sided box, one side open with a hole large enough for your Owl Species, and a perch near the entrance, and another perch lower with natural branches to support a couple of Owls. The roof should be shingled, and made of the same wood that you use to make the box, and angled for weather.

There will need to be brackets and reinforced hardware on the back and sides of the Owl Nest Box to attach to the tree. If you do not find a tree that is high enough or big enough to support your box, you can have a pole installed to best place your box. The pole should be in a natural setting, and can be placed next to a quiet and woody area.

If you are not a builder, and hate to think about this step, you can hire this project out to any construction team, as they would be glad to help.

Web cams are going to let you see them...

Get a good webcam, because if you regret this purchase, you will have to wait until the next nesting season to upgrade!
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Build Your Owl Nest Box

Here are some brief directions, and should be adjusted for your location and your Owl.
  • Start working with 10" lumber, and make sure to buy Hardwood. Leave two 14inch wide boards long, so you can cut them to 34 inches. Should be 14 inches wide, and have no chemical preservatives.
  • Start by building the base of the Nest.
  • Create a box frame with scrap wood to create a box 28 inches.
  • Place 2 boards which are 7inch long x 14 inches wide together, and side by side. Screw these two boards to your 14 inch frame box, and be sure not to let any hardware or sharp edges protrude. This is important so that the owlets do not injure themselves.
  • Now you are going to make the sides. So let's get going!
  • Make one side 7 inches long, with two 14" boards together. This is the front.
  • Make 2nd and 3rd and 4th side 10 inches long, with two 14 inch wide boards nailed together.
  • Then, take the 2nd and 3rd sides, and make an pencil mark 3 inches down on one board. This is to create the angle for the roof!
  • Make an angle from 10 inches to 7 inches on sides 2 and 3.
  • Cut sides 2 and 3 with this angle.
  • Cut a hole at the top of your 7 inch front side panel, to allow entrance for your owl. If you have a band saw, that would be a great way to make this hole. You can use a drill too, if you have a door knob tool for your drill. This is a good way to create a hole of around 5 inches wide, and then you can clean it up.
  • Join sides 1 through 4 to the base frame.
  • Now, create the roof. Take two 14 inch wide boards, and cut these boards longer if you can. 34 inches long will make a nice over hang. Join these two boards.
  • Join two more 14 inch boards to cut to 30 inches long. This will be a layer of shingles on top of the roof.
  • Once you have the roof 34 inch boards joined, screw them to the sides, and then screw the shingles to the roof. Note: If adding webcam be sure to see last instruction.
  • Your Owl Box is coming together! Place the remaining wood on the outside for shingles, and to do this, work from the bottom up.
  • For the shingles, cut 14 inch 14 inch wide boards, and then layer then bottom up, to top. This will give you a nice tight box. You will have to make some adjustment on the front, but you can cut your shingles with the door knob tool or your band saw, jigsaw, to allow a cookie cutter placement!
  • More details for the front!

    For a perch, place metal brackets at the bottom, and find a branch of around 3 inches wide, and screw this 30 inch branch to the front and the brackets. You can use a screw and washer with a nut to secure. The placement should be around 3 to 4 inches below the entrance.

    Create some other perches on the front, but nail them across the front of the box, under the hole. This can be any smaller scrap wood you may have. This looks like a ladder, and will help the owlets when they do emerge.
  • You can use a big piece of wood on the bottom and the top, but if you join boards and overlap, you should be OK.
  • Note: Add your webcam to your nest box, and do this before you add the roof. Be sure to secure your nest box by adding some roofing flashing to create a water tight seal if you use a camera. A series of thin cedar shingles would be a good idea if you are adding the camera.

Owlets are counting on you!

Make sure to do your research before you start...

Baby Screech Owls

It is important to make sure your Owl family stays together, so be sure to learn as much as you can about Owls before you install your Owl Nest Box.

The install can be dangerous. I would recommend you call a local tree trimming company, or a construction team to install, as the box can be heavy! It is 50 pounds if you build a big box like the one we have talked about.

This is a large owl box. The MN Department of Natural Resources has a Owl box that is smaller for a Barred Owl, and it is created out of one piece of plywood. I do think that natural wood is going to be more expensive, heavier, but will give the owl a chemical free living environment. Plywood is full of adhesives and chemicals and will break down faster than your hard wood boards. No fir boards please!

The Owls will appreciate some wood chips in the bottom of your nest box. If you can visit a pet store, and get consumable nesting material that would be much better than outdoor landscape wood chips. Do not use cocoa shells in your nest box. The caffeine in the shells could harm your owls.

Got Mice at Home? Learn More about Mice Here!

When, How and Why to Build an Owl Nest Box

This is a True Act of Kindness

Great Horned Owlets

Besides taking care of your rodent population, your owls are great at removing feral cats too. Bunnies, frogs and other small vermin will be at nature's risk when you get a hungry Owl family to move into your Nest Box. You are going to be helping Owls out, and creating a natural balance on population.

Be sure to install your Owl nest box by the fall. You should find inhabitants by spring if you have done your homework, and have installed your Nest Box in a good location. If you do not have any owls, you may need to wait another year. If that 2nd spring yields no Owls, you need to do more research , and find out what you can do to improve your location or your box itself. Sometimes the hole is too big, the box faces the sun, and that could be too warm. Your location needs to be gentle and quiet. It is a nursery!

And, you may want to ensure that the tree or pole is not near a place where teenagers or late night human traffic is near. Patience in this area is important.

An Owl Nest Box is great because you can create your own Owl Nest Box Live Web Channel, and educated viewers about Owls. It is a great business, because if you have a lot of web traffic, you can get sponsorship to your channel, and at the same time, educate people about owls.

Great Owl Nest Box Information!

Bush Boyes on Expedition: Pel's Fishing Owl, More Research and Mokoro Surveys
Who? You. Owl Nest Box-Building on Saturday at City Park Needs Your Help
Cirencester farmer Mark Tufnell wins owl conservation award
Trust sets up bird of prey webcams
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Learn about your Owl

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Hear and Indentify!

Track Artist Album  
Eastern Screech-Owl Descending Trill and Monotonic Trill Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Macaulay Library Voices of North American Owls (Vol. 1)
Barred Owl Female Two-phrase Hoot, Ascending Hoot, and Pair Caterwauling Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Macaulay Library Voices of North American Owls (Vol. 1)
Barred Owl Female Two-Hoot Phrase and Female and Male Ascending Hoot Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Macaulay Library Voices of North American Owls (Vol. 1)
Eastern Screech-Owl Screech Call and Chuckle Rattle Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Macaulay Library Voices of North American Owls (Vol. 1)
Boreal Owl Male Staccato Song Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Macaulay Library Voices of North American Owls (Vol. 2)
Boreal Owl Fledgling Begging Peep, Male Food Delivery and Screech Call Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Macaulay Library Voices of North American Owls (Vol. 2)

Owl Conservation!

Nov 24, 2011 @ 6:18 pmOwl Day Fundraising from World Owl Trust Website Content Update
Owl Day Fundraising Success At Ennerdale And Kinniside CE Primary School.
Nov 4, 2011 @ 7:02 pmMembers And Adopters Area from World Owl Trust Website Content Update
Members And Adopters Only Content.
Oct 24, 2011 @ 5:40 pmThe Stirk House Project from World Owl Trust Website Content Update
The Stirk House Project Wins A Green Oscar.
Oct 15, 2011 @ 10:27 amArt Workshop from World Owl Trust Website Content Update
Chetwynde School Art Workshop.
Sep 22, 2011 @ 4:20 pmImportant Announcement from World Owl Trust Website Content Update
Wildlife Watch Club Important Announcement.
Sep 19, 2011 @ 6:24 pmSpecial Offer Promotion from World Owl Trust Website Content Update
Special Offer Promotion with Northern Rail.
Sep 9, 2011 @ 8:11 pmSketch A Spec from World Owl Trust Website Content Update
Big Draw Sketch A Spec Event.
Sep 3, 2011 @ 5:45 pmBreeding Results 2011 from World Owl Trust Website Content Update
World Owl Centre breeding results for 2011.
Aug 13, 2011 @ 5:52 amOwl Pellet Dissection from World Owl Trust Website Content Update
Owl Pellet Dissection Video.

Have you thought about a Webcam for your Owl Nest Box?

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Owls and Brooding

The Newly Hatched Owlets Need to Stay Warm

Baby OwletsOwls will sit patiently on their eggs, and until they hatch, they rarely leave the nest. The time spent away could kill the egg within seconds, if the air is cold or near freezing. And, once the eggs are hatched, the brood, is often bundled under Mom for at least 2 weeks. The mother will often leave them for only a few minutes to feed, and returns diligently to keep the brood warm and comfortable.

The time spent under Mom is when the Owlets grow fast and develop. They are often found poking out from under her downy feathers, or wings, but only for a brief look around. Usually, there are one or two larger Owlets that are braver than the others. Owls have different amounts of Owlets, based on their species.

And, as they grow, the mother Owl decides to leave now and again, and often starts with more extended periods of time, during the warmest parts of the day. They are often under wing and foot at night. This slow emergence into individual freedom, is how the Owl slowly adapts her Owlets into adult bird life.

How much fun would this be to watch from the beginning?

Nesting Boxes are Everywhere!

Barn Owl Centre;s Nest Box Successes
by 01452barn | video info

3 ratings | 737 views
curated content from YouTube

More Information about Backyard Birding

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Be Sure to Get a Good Webcam

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