Odd Owl

[bridget1964]

Really beautiful photos of some cool owls! You are so lucky to have owls in your yard.

[turttle]

Have any of y'all used the Owlshack model and had any success? Are there alternatives out there that are better (or less expensive?) I really like the idea of an owl house. My neighbors tell me they hear owls, but I don't, so it would be very cool if I could lure one to my property.

My worry would be who else would move in. I had a flying squirrel in my bluebird box. I wouldn't mind a wood duck, but I suspect my neighborhood raccoons might be interested in a new pad other than my deck railing.

[Teresa]

I was curious about that Owl Shack design, too.

There are plenty of screech-owl house designs, and pre-built owl roosts, but this one looked so simple--no hole, no hinged clean-out, no angled roof, black paint. It looked like a great project for kids to easily put together.

But then I wondered about snakes/raccoons being able to reach the eggs, and then there are the squirrels--I know they can and do gnaw down holes to build nests in other boxes and to reach food, and I wondered if they would just make themselves right at home in that open design. . .

I've also seen some great DIY and pre-built designs for Barn Owls and others. Here are some more links:

Screech Owl Bird House Plans (Screech Owl house plans)

Owls - Sites to help you build or buy an Owl nest box or nest platform - The Owl Pages (various owl house plans)

Carolina Raptor Center - Owl Box Plans (Barn and Barred Owl house plans)

The Hungry Owl Project - Owl Boxes (Barn and Screech Owl house plans)

[Equilibrium]

I've never seen anyone using an A frame owl nest box before. Wonder how our owls would like those? I have heard of folk using domed cat litter boxes but I've never seen one before except for at your link. Too big of an extrance hole and you could have a problem with coons. I think I'd go with a design used over here in the US and one with an entrance that would exclude raccoons.