otherchuck
Member
Greetings all!
I have a barn owl box I am rehabilitating and am planning to put up on our rural property in Southern California, USA. There are a variety of dead pine tree trunks that would be relatively easy for me to attach the house to (well, not too easy...the box is heavy!), but most of the better options are in full sun. It gets pretty hot here in the summer (many days over 100 degrees farhenheit, for instance), and can also get pretty hot in the spring, so I am guessing a shaded area is preferred. Is that correct, or is it the case that the birds will already have fledged and vacated the box before the hot weather sets in? I will be painting the box bright white to reflect sunlight. The advantage of the "full sun" locations is that they provide wide-open access to optimal hunting areas, whereas the shaded areas I can think of have more obstructed "forest" access but maybe the birds can deal with some obstruction more easily than they can deal with extreme summer heat.
Two more placement questions while I have your attention:
(1) The box I have has a perch about 4 or so inches off the front of the box, but I understand barn owls may not need that, and it might assist predators. Should I take that perch off, or is it okay to leave?
(2) One location I am thinking of is just about perfect, but it is near (about 20 meters away) a walking path my dog and wife and I take every day. Would our frequent presence near the box deter the owls from adopting it as a home?
Anyway, thanks so much for any guidance here!
Otherchuck
I have a barn owl box I am rehabilitating and am planning to put up on our rural property in Southern California, USA. There are a variety of dead pine tree trunks that would be relatively easy for me to attach the house to (well, not too easy...the box is heavy!), but most of the better options are in full sun. It gets pretty hot here in the summer (many days over 100 degrees farhenheit, for instance), and can also get pretty hot in the spring, so I am guessing a shaded area is preferred. Is that correct, or is it the case that the birds will already have fledged and vacated the box before the hot weather sets in? I will be painting the box bright white to reflect sunlight. The advantage of the "full sun" locations is that they provide wide-open access to optimal hunting areas, whereas the shaded areas I can think of have more obstructed "forest" access but maybe the birds can deal with some obstruction more easily than they can deal with extreme summer heat.
Two more placement questions while I have your attention:
(1) The box I have has a perch about 4 or so inches off the front of the box, but I understand barn owls may not need that, and it might assist predators. Should I take that perch off, or is it okay to leave?
(2) One location I am thinking of is just about perfect, but it is near (about 20 meters away) a walking path my dog and wife and I take every day. Would our frequent presence near the box deter the owls from adopting it as a home?
Anyway, thanks so much for any guidance here!
Otherchuck
