We've been fortunate to see some nice examples of daytime birds of prey this fall (eagles and hawks -see below), but frankly they are not as exciting as owls of the night. Winter is coming and that's the time when Screech Owl activity starts to increase around central Florida. We've also seen some frisky squirrels the last few days and this is the time they start their second breeding cycle. Last season the squirrels used the Screech Owl nest box to deliver a litter before the Screech Owls needed it, but they basically fill up the entire box with sticks and leaves and make it unusable. After we cleaned it out in preparation for the owls the squirrels still used is as a flop house (more on that in another post) and generally made it clear we had to move the owl box to, not the best location, but a safe location. The owls I think appreciated the safety. Around here there are simply too many dangerous predators for nests in trees that are marginal at best such as in the crevices of Palmetto Trees.
If you are going to try and attract Screech Owls time is running out to put up a box so that they can find it and begin to make it part of the route and consider using it as a nest box in late winter. Our owls have laid eggs as early as late January and as late as mid March - the early nesting was a cold winter and the late a warm winter. To build your own nest or buy - There are plenty of plans out there like this one from Cornell. We bought and love the Stovall 6H Screech Owl Box
it has a unique feature of a perch about six inches or so below the hole that makes it easy for the owls to perch and generally interact with the owlets with less effort. And an extra layer of wood around the entrance that again makes it easier for owls to sit and harder for squirrels to chew it up. If you do decide to build your own use real cedar wood and good hardware. I made one out of pine by exactly duplicating the Stovall box and it was taken over by Africanized Bees - cedar repels insects. By the time you consider buying cedar and quality hardware you may come to the conclusion its hard to beat the Stovall. From an earlier bog I noted that a perch for the owls in the yard near the nest box is also a good idea. A nest box would make a great Christmas gift for the nature lover. Good luck this year!
it has a unique feature of a perch about six inches or so below the hole that makes it easy for the owls to perch and generally interact with the owlets with less effort. And an extra layer of wood around the entrance that again makes it easier for owls to sit and harder for squirrels to chew it up. If you do decide to build your own use real cedar wood and good hardware. I made one out of pine by exactly duplicating the Stovall box and it was taken over by Africanized Bees - cedar repels insects. By the time you consider buying cedar and quality hardware you may come to the conclusion its hard to beat the Stovall. From an earlier bog I noted that a perch for the owls in the yard near the nest box is also a good idea. A nest box would make a great Christmas gift for the nature lover. Good luck this year! |
| Bald Eagle and Brazen Crow |
Red-Shouldered Hawk Taking Flight
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