An Owl Box for Who?

In 2021, at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown, I was retired and had virtually nothing to do. Inspired by my boredom, I decided to build an owl house. I looked up plans that were suitable for smaller owls. The recommendations were to build a sturdy box from plywood with an appropriate entrance, a ventilated roof, and drains. I found a suitable tree with a notch about 15 feet above the ground, facing north but at an angle that I could see from inside my patio.

It was a good effort, but absolutely nothing happened in that owl box for five years, until recently. In early July, my wife Megs and I heard some strange noises after dark. Megs thought skunks had moved in under the deck, but we found nothing. On a hunch, I used the Merlin app, which can identify birds by their calls. The app immediately identified the sound as the call of an American barn owl. This was a hoot!

Megs had been hearing the same screeching but much softer, for a few weeks. Once the two chicks were big enough to come out of the owl box, they began making their begging noises much more loudly—for most of the night, I might add.

Unbeknownst to us, this family of barn owls had been living under our noses (80 feet away) for the previous two months. Barn owls are mostly nocturnal, secretive, and prefer quiet environments with access to rodents. We don’t hear or see them until after the sun has set. They go back inside 30 minutes before sunrise. No wonder we were unaware of them.

Their nocturnal habits make conventional photography very challenging due to the lack of light. The use of tripods and slow shutter speeds is required during these briefnaturenature windows of useful light. Another method is to set up an Infrared wildlife camera.

We installed one about 20 feet away, and set it to take motion-activated eight- second videos after dark. IR illumination is generally invisible to wildlife. These cameras are a lot of fun if you’re interested in what’s wandering around the back yard at night. Most of the videos were of the owl pair sitting on the box, but a few showed them learning to fly.

It is hard to guess how long the fledges will be here. The American barn owl’s range includes most of the central and western states. They prefer mixed vegetation with open grassy areas and easy rodent hunting. The Lexington Reservoir area has lots of trees with small open spaces. We’re delighted they’re here and hope they come back next year.

Juan Carlos Huerta (408) 833-2977 P.O. Box 968 | Los Gatos, CA 95031 juancarlos@huertastreeservice.com www.huertastreeservice.com CSL #948403 • Full Tree Service • Stump Grinding • Fully Insured • Free Estimates