There are barred owls in our neighborhood but try as I may I have not been successful in locating their nest, yet. There was a post on the site Nextdoor.com by someone claiming the nest was in a tree in their yard but, and I understand, the person did not post their address. I will admit to driving throughout my neighborhood scanning backyard trees attempting to locate a nest site but, so far, I have had no luck.
For the past few years I have put up a screech owl nest box behind my house though nothing has taken up residence. The nest box is made specifically for screech owls but why another bird species or even small mammal has not made the home its’ own is beyond me. The nest box seems to me prime real estate with a spacious grand room and beautifully cut front door/hole. The box even has a slight awning to prevent precipitation from entering. Why wouldn’t any creature want residence in this uber cheap house?
This year a friend of mine sent me a barred owl nest box. Since barred owls don’t get along with screech owls (or any bird for that matter) I decided to place the barred owl box far from my neighborhood on my sister’s property about a twenty minute drive. This nest box is even more luxurious complete with two rooms (to prevent predation of the owlets by other animals) front door awning and little ledges for a young owl to hold on to when leaving the nest. This box has also not had any visitors and it’s getting late in the season. Barred owls in Virginia should have found a nest and mated a couple of months ago so it seems that I will have to wait another year for the chance to attract owls to the nest.
I am patient however, and so I will continue to try to attract owls to my comfortable and very affordable housing.
the suburban naturalists 