Screech Owl/Kestrel House

$135.00

Despite their name, screech owls only screech when agitated; most of their calls consist of mellow whistles and trills. During the day they will be harassed mercilessly by songbirds if their roost is found, and prefer to hide inside a cavity of some sort – a hollow limb, for instance, or a large woodpecker hole. Such cavities become essential during the nesting season, but are often hard to find. You can provide a home for owls by providing a nest box. They will repay you by preying on mice and voles that often damage plants in your garden.

This house may also be used by Kestrels.

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Description

It’s important to place the box correctly. The natural cavities that screech owls choose are typically 12 to 20 feet above the ground and in deep shade. As the female incubates the eggs, the male is apt to spend the day roosting in dense foliage within about 20 feet of the nest. After you’ve placed an inch or so of dried leaves in the bottom of the nest, hang it at least 10 feet up on the trunk of a large tree. Try to place it away from sidewalks or doors, since the owls vigorously defend their nests against perceived threats. In fact, when the young are near fledging, some unusually spunky adults may swoop down at people or pets who wander too close, even raking them with their claws. So while placing the box in as secluded a spot as possible is good for the owls, it might be better for us, too.

Photo of Screech Owl by DickDaniels (http://theworldbirds.org/), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of Kestrel by Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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