Encouraging Barn Owls

[Garden Carpet]

Hi VC, how wonderful for you. I do hope you manage to see more.
jaki

[vinnychameleon]

Yeh GC i'll keep an eye out for him again.

[badgerwatcher]

So you're giving up work now, Vinny, or ever going out again, right?
I'm having trouble leaving my house, as I'm scared I'll miss something!

[jennyb]

I have just taken delivery of 2 barn owl boxes I have been thinking about it for a couple of years and this thread gave me a bit of a kick up the backside to do something about it. Plus, my neighbour said she saw a barn owl around here just a few weeks ago.

The only problem now is to convince Other Half to hang them - they are awfully heavy. It is not going to be an easy job (both convincing and hanging!)

Jenny

[Sally B]

Hello. I have just this minute joined, I found your forum when I typed 'Encouraging Barn Owls to your Garden' into google. Barn Owls are the most beautiful birds, they are my favourite and after spending a day at an open day at a stable in Wimbledon Common yesterday stroking a gorgeous girl called Mustard I know I want to put up a nest box. The lady working with the owls at Wimbledon suggested leaving bits of chick out to get the owl(s) interested, as I definitely have them in my area (saw one perched down the garden on my clothes prop very early in the morning last Autumn which took my breath away!) and I think I live in an ideal location. I have lots of open fields, grassland, trees at the bottom of the garden a good distance from the B-road at the front of the house etc. Just wondered how much a good nest box costs and where to get one from, or if it is better to make one yourself?

[JoulesH]

See link above to the Barn Owl Trust. Hawk and Owl Trust also good. I bought 2 boxes about 5 years ago different sorts seem to recall the average price was about £90. Design is important, just cos an owl uses a box does not mean it is a good design, chicks can fall out easily if not a good design. Please bear in mind that barn owls are Sch 1 protected species and it is an offence to disturb them at the nest. 2 boxes is best, about 100-200 yards apart as this suits their lifestyle. As has been stated elsewhere, apart from a suitable nest site the main requirement is acres of rough grassland for hunting over.

We had 4 chicks ringed in our box 3 weeks ago, the boxes were unused for the first 2 years but 2 young reared last year.

[kiff]

Originally Posted by Sally B

Hello. I have just this minute joined, I found your forum when I typed 'Encouraging Barn Owls to your Garden' into google. Barn Owls are the most beautiful birds, they are my favourite and after spending a day at an open day at a stable in Wimbledon Common yesterday stroking a gorgeous girl called Mustard I know I want to put up a nest box. The lady working with the owls at Wimbledon suggested leaving bits of chick out to get the owl(s) interested, as I definitely have them in my area (saw one perched down the garden on my clothes prop very early in the morning last Autumn which took my breath away!) and I think I live in an ideal location. I have lots of open fields, grassland, trees at the bottom of the garden a good distance from the B-road at the front of the house etc. Just wondered how much a good nest box costs and where to get one from, or if it is better to make one yourself?

Chris sperrings web site is useful or the hawk and owl trust

Nestboxes

[JeffH]

Hi Sally and welcome to WAB

Here's two more very useful websites -

BOCN- The Website of the Barn Owl Conservation Network - a project of the Hawk & Owl Trust - just click on the 'Conservation' box for more information

and - http://www.bto.org/survey/bomp/links.htm - the British Trust for Ornithology's (BTO's) Barn Owl Owl Monitoring Programme has an excellent "useful Barn Owl links" page

Good Luck but, as JoulesH has already said, please bear in mind that Barn Owls are a Schedule 1 protected species and that disturbance '...at or near the nest' (and even if it's on your own land) is a criminal offence without the necessary licences from either the BTO (for monitoring) or from Natural England (for photography).

Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers, Barn Owls and Avocets)