do barred owl and screech owls get along? (2 Viewers)

[DougL]

We have resident barred owls that nest nearby in our riparian habitat (Central Texas). Wonderful. I wanted to put up a box for them, but realized that I'd need a truck and a crane to do it. Barred owl boxes are ENORMOUS. Sigh. But a neighbor down the street has a screech owl box, which is more compact and manageable, and it works wonderfully. They have screech owls resident there. I'd very much like to put one up. But the question is whether the two kind of owls tolerate each other. Is this an issue? What kind of pests do screech owls NOT like? We have lots of squirrels, but I'd put the box up in such a way as to prevent squirrels from invading. (I'm sort of an expert at that for our feeders.)

 

[DMW]

Large owls typically predate small owls, so...

 

[DougL]

Well, there is no lack of other birds for these barred owls to get, as well as rodents aplenty. So I guess the question is whether they PREFER screech owls. Do people have successful screech boxes in areas with barred owls?

I have identified THIS interesting paper which seems to suggest that while predation may occur, screech owls may figure out a way to deal with it. In this area, screech owls and barred owls certainly coexist.