Monday, March 30, 2015

Media Mondays

Media Mondays

Happy Last Monday in March!

Owl Nesting Boxes 

I have noticed that a popular sighting at the Backus-Page House Museum are a variety of different types of owls in the surrounding forested areas. I have completed Saturday Sighting posts on the owls we have either heard or saw here on the property. 
In completing some research on the different populations of owls I came across an Owl Nesting Box project that I think would be an excellent Summer Workshop to have here at the museum! 
No date has been set for the idea and the donation of scrap barn-board would need to be made in order to make it possible. However the nesting boxes that we could make would positively influence the owl populations in our area. 
The first nesting box plans I came across are intended for the Eastern Screech Owl - this species of owl is a common sight/sound around our area. They make a very distinct sound that I have heard early in the morning and around dusk. 
Below are the plans that I intend to use for building a nesting box for the Eastern Screech Owl. 

Another owl that desperately needs nesting boxes around our area are Barn Owls. These owls can be found in our area but a rarely spotted - sadly they are in significant decline in population. They tend to make their homes in vacant barns, church steeples, dead wood etc. all things that we seem to demolish. Therefore, many of their homes have been destroyed and they move away to find new places to nest. Barn Owls sound very different than the Eastern Screech Owl. 
Nesting boxes for Barn Owls are also very different than those intended for Eastern Screech Owls. I have looked at a variety of different styles of nesting boxes. Below is the link for the plans I believe would be the most successful. 
These plans allow for the boxes to be built on the side of a barn or the ladder of a silo. 
The link below offers a plan that would allow for a nesting box to be mounted to a tree.

Overall, I find these species of bird to be the most interesting and beautiful. I intend to attempt making each of these nesting boxes and if they are successful (which I hope they are) I will ensure posting images and the plans I followed. 

For more information on birds in general please visit the following website - I found it to be increasingly helpful when doing my research, finding nesting plans, and any information about bird species in our area.

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