owl box

[islayhawk]

Hi -a friend of mine has a problem. He is renovating and old house which has a small circular window (8" -10" diameter) high on a gable. The glass is long gone and there are owls nesting inside. He doesnt want to get rid of the owls but the problem is that because the direction the window faces the rain is coming in and damaging the house.
He is not allowed to put an owl box in front of the hole . anyone got any suggestions

islayhawk

[Janec]

Hi,
I'm sorry I can't help but could I suggest you post this thread on the bird forum.
I'm sure one of the bird experts on there will be able to help.
Good luck
Jane

[rossy]

Originally Posted by islayhawk

Hi -a friend of mine has a problem. He is renovating and old house which has a small circular window (8" -10" diameter) high on a gable. The glass is long gone and there are owls nesting inside. He doesnt want to get rid of the owls but the problem is that because the direction the window faces the rain is coming in and damaging the house.
He is not allowed to put an owl box in front of the hole . anyone got any suggestions

islayhawk

hello islayhawk, it is illegal to disturb any nesting birds, ask your friend to be patient, and wait till the owls have fledged, are they barn owls ? your right to ask, if you put a box up now it will cause the owls to desert, the existing nest, to which may have young. rossy.

[Dogghound]

Are the owls nesting in it now? If so they will almost certainly be tawny owls. They could just be roosting barn owls though. I think you need to find the species of owl first before we can go on. If they were roosting little owls for example you would be able to legally exclude them and provide another area. Barn owls are schedule 1 and it would become more complex in terms of nesting or roosting. You would need to provide another area for roosting/nesting, I would also advise you contact Natural England or get someone with the appropriate experience and license to look at the site/owls and proceed from there.

[islayhawk]

They are Barn Owls and they are not nesting. He wants to keep them in thier present location but its the fact that the opening is causing problems with rain entering the building. I had thought of placing a short pipe the diameter of the hole leading from the hole into the building and angling it slightly upwards - I do not know if this would work

[Adam Cheeseman]

Can he not install an internal nest box incorporating the hole thus preventing the rain from coming into the house.

Cheers,

Adam

[Dogghound]

Could you take a photo of the site? Is there anyway of incorporating a nest box into the building? I deal with barn owls through work, however I don't feel comfortable offering advice on the site without more information. What is most likely to happen is the provision of another nest site/roost site and the destruction of the current site. Barn owls receive slightly less protection when not nesting, however they are very loyal to roost sites and you should really get someone who knows what they are doing to deal with this. You also need to prove they are not breeding (they have been recorded breeding outside of typical times). They are fully protected during breeding as is the nest. If not breeding then they can be excluded, by someone with a schedule 1. You need to be very careful when excluding them, especially in winter. I would phone natural England and get someone to take a look if possible. They can then look at mitigation such as where and how to create another roost/nest site. Where abouts are you based?

[islayhawk]

They are not nesting
There is no access from inside the house.
They must be kept in their present site

[Brocakat]

I'm sure we all understand that there is no nesting problem at this time....

That would mean it's an ideal time ( so long as its not frosty - due to potential damage by the low temperatures to any fresh paint /putty / wood / sealer etc.) -
to treat those exposed surfaces and replace /incorporate that original absent pane of glass bar with a fresh one, incorporating a single " Adult owl-sized " gap.


One can commonly get a pane of glass with a smaller circle cut out (which usually accomodates a small fan under more normal circumstances.) If there are physical difficulties with that - consider the same shape but in Perspex.

You may also consider a tasteful small ' cowl ' or porch above this circular window , painted or stained to match the rest of the surrounds , which will give additional weather protection.