Provision of Nest Boxes

Information about the provision of nest boxes for the Barn owl.

Dutch Elm disease, the felling of many hollow trees for safety reasons, and severe gales have severely reduced the number of 'natural' nesting opportunities for Barn Owls who like cavity sites.  Young and healthy trees rarely offer that facility and so the erection, by the Friends of Wychwood, of waterproof artificial boxes near potential feeding areas can be of enormous benefit.

For indoor situations, e.g. barns, it has been possible to utilize old tea chests (several kindly supplied by the Purveyors of Yorkshire Tea).  These have been suitably adapted for the purpose and fixed in place in the darker roof spaces. They make ideal indoor nesting sites in situations that would otherwise not be owl friendly.

A barn owl nest box erected on a pole in an area where there is good prey habitat but no obvious natural nest sites