Squirrel nest completely filling up a Screech Owl Nest Box
The same Screech Owl Nest Box Ready for Breeding Season 2013
Squirrels have now delivered their litters and are nursing in nests in the oak trees around our area. This year we kept them out of the Screech Owl nest box which is now sitting ready for, hopefully, the same couple as last year to claim it in the next few months. Squirrels basically cram a large amount of small twigs and branches with leaves into the owl box and then keep their babies at the bottom - this makes it very difficult for any predators to snatch their little ones. The parents just dig down and out of the bottom of the nest box when they come and go.
Obviously the squirrel nest precludes use by the Screech Owls - if one were inclined you could leave a nest box out for the squirrels to enjoy year-after-year - however it would be impossible to watch the little ones be delivered, grow and develop as the nest material blocks the camera view. Screech Owl season is nearing!
This video is from the 2012 season in early January - about one year ago. The cute and extra-fastidious little rat has no idea he's resting in the wrong lair. It would make a tasty morsel for an owl. Screech owls will be checking out nest boxes soon. I moved the nest box after this and issues with squirrels and put it on the gable end of an outbuilding. See this post for the setup:
If you don't have a real great spot to put one and you live in a suburban or somewhat urban area with heavy tree cover nearby you might try putting the box on the gable end of your house about 8 to 10 feet or so off the ground near the middle of the gable end - the owls will likely accept it if they are around as long as there is immediate heavy cover nearby for them to stage to. One advantage of putting it on a building wall is that it limits access by squirrels and rats etc. See:
The other consideration is sunshine - you don't want to put the box where it will get blasted by sunshine most of the day and overheat the owls. In our case, they get several hours of direct but low morning sun and then its OK Screech Owls will look for any cavity to make a nest as natural sites can be scarce and dangerous. The number one concern is nearby heavy cover such as an oak tree or other dense foliage so they don't have to travel to far in the open from the nest to the first staging/perching area. They have adapted to living in neighborhoods in this way.
Great story out of eastern Pennsylvania of an Eastern Screech Owl that came down a families chimney and sat rather calmly in their fireplace. They called a bird enthusiast friend and the story had a happy ending!
Thursday (12/27) was a day I just wanted to avoid the crowds and take a drive, get some fresh air and see if we could find any birds. It was after lunch, not the best time, and our favorite remote ranch land area was looking like a bust so I just set about shooting some stock footage of a pair of Sandhill Cranes. Not every day can be an Eagle or Caracara day, but you just never know when luck will come your way. Lately, I've been lucky.
I was fortunate to be engulfed by a passing "Flight of Swallows" as I was focusing my attention on one of the Cranes. Several Red-Shouldered Hawks became excited and then Swallows surrounded us. I didn't notice untill I looked at the footage later, but you can see the Crane take notice of some disturbance developing in the atmosphere - the Crane looks up and then around and then there is a sudden onset of a Flight of Swallows much like the approach and passage of a storm. The expression on the Crane is priceless at 1080p. I panned to cover the swallows and by then the greatest concentration was right overhead. Hawks began swooping in to take a few swallows. Later one of the Hawks roosted right in front of us as the straggler Swallows fell in behind the main Flight. All in all it took about 10 minutes for the Flight to pass. What was most interesting was the reaction of the big birds from the Crane watching with curiosity to the top predator Hawks attacking the swallows much like sharks try and pick out fish from large schools in the ocean. Also got to spend some quality time with one of the Red Shouldered Hawks toward the end. The Flight was moving in mid-afternoon, most birds were swirling, but the Flight itself seemed to be making forward progress northward on the order of several miles an hour as we caught up with them further up the road about 30 minutes later. You just never know - carry your camera!
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Routine Sandhill Crane video leading up to the "Flight of Swallows"
While we wait for Eastern Screech Owl nesting season to heat up in late winter...daytime birding overall has been picking up in Florida. Here is a video of a chance encounter with Eagles and Crested Caracaras - always exciting to see and the common crow who tries to steal the show.
Male Painted Bunting observed on December 9th, 2012
Between December 14th and January 5th you can participate in the annual bird count. Information is on the Audubon web site. Even if you don't participate, winter is a good time for bird watching. Owls are starting to call more often as we get deeper into winter in Florida. Here is a photo of a Painted Bunting I took Sunday to get the bird watching juices flowing.
This gave me a chuckle this afternoon. Getting the nest boxes ready for owl season and trimming some branches etc this afternoon I noticed this Gecko who had claimed a nest box as his new home. Trust me - this is going to end badly! Nobody told him that little lizards are Screech Owls number one food in Florida. All the more reason for the owls to move in this winter - Dinner is Waiting!!
Little Lizard thinks he's going to make a home here - not!
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!
Female Screech Owl Keeps in Touch With Male and Owlets in the Nest Box
In the last post about Screech Owl camouflage I noted how the male and female stand guard over the nest box during the day by trying to blend in with their surroundings and taking extreme measures to hide when danger was near. Another interesting observation related to this behavior was the way they communicate during the day. In the clip above you will note the female making continuous low volume - high frequency - calls to her mate and the owlets in the nearby nest box. You can see her inhaling and exhaling via the abdomen muscles to make these calls without any change in expression or movement of face and head. If you listen carefully you can hear the male Screech Owl occasionally reply to her calls as well as the Owlets making very faint calls. This was observed in the days after the mother owl moved out of the nest box during the day. Due to the unusual location of the nest box the parents could not be very close like they might be if it was in a tree. In this case, the stealthy communication is probably a way for all to keep in touch and is clearly led by the female owl. What is interesting is how far and well these calls travel. Just another new example of the talents of these amazing little owls.
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!
