otherchuck
Member
Greetings all,
I live in southern California, USA, a little bit north of Santa Barbara, in a rural, lightly populated oak woodland. We have variety of owls that live in the area,certainly great horned and barn owls, and I presume screech owls as well (someone is sure screeching!). Infinity field mice and other rodents in the area, so this is where I would want to live if I were an owl.
I inherited a barn owl box and want to put it up on my property. I have a metal pole I can put it on...it won't be as high off the ground as it should be, but it will be on a steep hill, so I am hoping it might feel like a high open space to an owl. What I want to know is if the dimensions are about right:
It is 24" wide (left to right), 18" deep (front to back), and about 18" high. The roof is inclined so it is actually 20" high at the back and 16" high in the front. The entry hole is a rectangle 8" high and 6" wide, and the bottom of the entry hole is 6" above the floor. The height of the entry hole strikes me as too big (I really don't want great horned owls to think about getting in there) so I might put a block of wood over the bottom 2" of that opening. That would make the opening 6"x6" and about 8" above the floor. I could fashion that block of would to provide a little bit of a ledge as well.
There is a perch about about 7 inches off the front that runs from side-to-side; there is no "porch" or anything connecting the perch to the entry hole. The perch is supported by thin bits of wood that extend from the edges of the box. I was worried that a baby bird that cannot yet fly could drop off the entry hole and fall to the ground, and so I thought of connecting that perch to the owl box with wire or slats, but I gather that people don't really do that. Maybe that makes it too easy for predators.
Any thoughts so far? Does that sound about right? Also, should I put some nesting materials in the box? Like straw, or lace lichen?
Thanks!
otherchuck
I live in southern California, USA, a little bit north of Santa Barbara, in a rural, lightly populated oak woodland. We have variety of owls that live in the area,certainly great horned and barn owls, and I presume screech owls as well (someone is sure screeching!). Infinity field mice and other rodents in the area, so this is where I would want to live if I were an owl.
I inherited a barn owl box and want to put it up on my property. I have a metal pole I can put it on...it won't be as high off the ground as it should be, but it will be on a steep hill, so I am hoping it might feel like a high open space to an owl. What I want to know is if the dimensions are about right:
It is 24" wide (left to right), 18" deep (front to back), and about 18" high. The roof is inclined so it is actually 20" high at the back and 16" high in the front. The entry hole is a rectangle 8" high and 6" wide, and the bottom of the entry hole is 6" above the floor. The height of the entry hole strikes me as too big (I really don't want great horned owls to think about getting in there) so I might put a block of wood over the bottom 2" of that opening. That would make the opening 6"x6" and about 8" above the floor. I could fashion that block of would to provide a little bit of a ledge as well.
There is a perch about about 7 inches off the front that runs from side-to-side; there is no "porch" or anything connecting the perch to the entry hole. The perch is supported by thin bits of wood that extend from the edges of the box. I was worried that a baby bird that cannot yet fly could drop off the entry hole and fall to the ground, and so I thought of connecting that perch to the owl box with wire or slats, but I gather that people don't really do that. Maybe that makes it too easy for predators.
Any thoughts so far? Does that sound about right? Also, should I put some nesting materials in the box? Like straw, or lace lichen?
Thanks!
otherchuck
