BirdNote; Screech-Owls Are Looking for a Home

BirdNote®

Screech-Owls Are Looking for a Home

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

[Western Screech-Owl, http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/109017, 0.06-.09]

Looking for a project for a winter’s day? Consider giving screech-owls a helping hand. Eastern and Western Screech-Owls span the wooded areas of the continent, nesting in naturally occurring tree cavities left vacant by large woodpeckers. Such natural housing opportunities are often in short supply, though. And that’s where you come in — because screech-owls will happily take to nestboxes.

[Eastern Screech-Owl, http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/107366, 0.06-.08]

In fact, they’ll nest in Wood Duck boxes, flicker boxes, and even the occasional mailbox. But you can build an ideal home for them with a few pieces of wood, a saw, and an hour or two of your spare time.

The owls like an area with ample trees, but they’ll also nest right next to your house. You’ll need to attach the box to a tree or post at least 10 feet above ground, which helps the owls sneak in and out. When leaving the box, an owl drops low to the ground and stays low in flight for some distance – to elude potential predators like larger owls or raccoons.

Screech-Owls start courting as early as February, so now’s the ideal time to get started.

[Western Screech-Owl 109017]

For tips on building and installing your Screech-Owl box, come to BirdNote.Org. For BirdNote, I’m Michel Stein.

[Eastern Screech-Owl, http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/100702, 0.06-.08]

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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Western Screech-Owl [109017] recorded by G A Keller; Eastern Screech-Owl [100702 and 107366] recorded by W L Hershberger

BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.

Producer: John Kessler

Executive Producer: Dominic Black

© 2016 Tune In to Nature.org January 2018 Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# WESO-EASO-02-2016-01-06 WESO-EASO-02