OWLS as Cavity Nesters or Predators

Also see Other Cavity Nesters and Hawks/Owls as cavity nesters or as problems on the bluebird trail

On Jan 26, 2005, at 11:33 AM, Shane&Emily Marcotte wrote:

John I have alot of owls I hear at night.I dont have a barn.There are woods nearby.I have moles.Will they take care of the moles?Will they bother my chickens?Ducks?I ask because something is taking my ducks at night time.I've had people suggest everything from a fox to a coyote to an aligator to hawks.They all reside right around me and I've seen at least 1 of each.Your thoughts?I would like to attract owls. Shane

Dear Shane and friends,

No, the Barn Owl will not kill your chickens or ducks, but the Great Horned Owl will, plus if you have Coyote, Fox, Bobcat (one of the worst killers), Lynx, Mink, Weasel, and Fisher-cat in your area, then these predators need to be considered as potential killers of your chickens or ducks too. Hawks, Falcons and Golden Eagles will also take out chickens and ducks too.

The reason I know that the Barn Owls are not killing your chickens or ducks is that Barn Owls are selective hunters that kill only what they can swallow whole. In fact, there can be game all over the place, but if none of the prey meets the Barn Owls dietary needs they will just leave the area and have been known to starve to death for not leaving.

If you are hearing the "Hoot Hoot" sounds at night, then you have a Great Horned Owl in the area. Known as the "Tiger of the Night Sky" the Great Horned will kill anything that it can nail by surprise and that it can handle, so chickens or ducks are on the menu. In fact, Great Horned Owls will kill Barn Owls too, and are even credited with killing the Spotted Owl min the northwest.

However, if you hear a raspy hiss or a screech sound at night then you have a Barn Owl in the area. Most folks do not know this, but people confuse the raspy hiss or screech sounds made by Barn Owls for Western or Eastern Screech Owls. The Screech Owl do not screech at all, it makes a sound that is commonly called the bouncing ball, and has a trilling off sound to it. You have to hear it to know it, but I can assure you that if you hear a load "SCREECH" it's a Barn Owl.

When I get up early to reply to e-mails (had 89 of them this morning) I take a moment to check out our Barn Owls while it is still dark with a spotlight that I recently purchased through Wal-Greens (cost $9.99 and it's a great deal.) This particular Barn Owl nest box is over 100 yards from our backyard, and over looks our vineyard. I gave them the spotlight (which doesn't both them) from our back porch, and there they are looking out at the world though the entry hole of their nest box before calling it a night and going to sleep for the day.

I love Barn Owls just as much as I do Bluebirds, and that's saying allot. Attracting them is identical to attracting Bluebirds, as Barn Owls need a cavity to roost and breed in (just like bluebirds) and the only difference between nest boxes is the size and hight. It took us 4 years to get Barn Owls at our vineyard, but last year I broke my occupancy record at another vineyard by get Barn Owls into their nests boxes in less than 48 hours. Now both of our Barn Owl nest boxes have here breeders, so I plan to install another Barn Owl nest boxes to attract more Barn Owls. The more Barn Owls you have the more rodents they consume.

Steve Simmons 2 year diet study conducted by students from UC Davis, CA, using 48 Barn Owl nest box determined rodent consumption by Barn Owls to be 12,653 Pounds or 6.3 Tons Killed & Consumed in One Year! Because the Barn Owl kills and consumes an alarming number of rodents (moles too because they do all their hunting by ear, can hear the mole under the soil and will bust through the soil to get at the mole) each year, for that reason, there is no other bird on the planet that is more beneficial to mankind than the Barn Owl in my opinion.

Cheers and as always...

Happy Bluebird Trails To You,

John Schuster
Wild Wing Company, Owner

From: KCBSP"at"aol.com [mailto:KCBSP"at"aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 11:29 AM
Subject: Re: No, the Barn Owl will not kill your chickens....

John,

If you would be so kind please reply to this question.

You mentioned it took 4 years to attract the first one or pair? What year was it if you recall, and how many active nestings did you find last year? Is it two? I see you said both of our boxes.

Can these larger raptors take geese? I'm sure that there are many foxes in the woods at my home. They have taken the neighbors' ducks. There were 20 and now there are none. They had 10 geese and are down to 6. We do have great horned owls and hawks. There is a redtail nest I can see from my deck.

That's great news. I'd love to shine a light out back and see barn owls.

Kathy, New Cumberland, PA

From: John Schuster [mailto:wildwingco"at"earthlink.net]
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 2:25 PM
Subject: Barn Owl nest boxes, our dog Mozart and the Golden Eagle.

Dear Kathy and friends,

Field Vineyards has 3 vineyard properties. The Cotati property is where we live (8 acres), then there is the Alexander Valley property in Cloverdale, CA, (74 acres) and then there is the Potter Valley property (80+ acres.)

We installed 2 Barn Owls nest boxes here in Cotati, in 2000 and we got our first set of breeders in 2004. We had a clutch of 5 eggs, which hatched 5 owlets, and all successfully fledge in July of that same year.

Now in 2005, not only did our Barn Owl breeders from 2004 return to the nest box behind out home, but we also have a new set of Barn Owl breeders a hundred yards away from the adjacent Barn Owls nest box on the other side of the vineyard. Fledged owlets from a pervious nesting season mature to breeding age in 6 months, so the other nest box that stood empty since 2000 is now occupied in 2005 by a possible fledgling from the previous nesting season, who matched up with another Barn Owl from the area.

However, in Potter Valley and in Cloverdale, we get Barn Owls into nest boxes very fast.

In Cloverdale, we installed 3 Barn Owl nest boxes in 2002, and we got Barn Owls in one nest box the first year, and in 2004 we got another set of breeders (the third nest box was stolen by vandals in 2002.) Today, both of the remaining Barn Owl nest boxes have Barn Owls and our neighbor Bill Petonen, across the road from us (Bill installed 4 Barn Owls nest boxes in 2000) has Barn Owl in all his nest boxes (except for the new Barn Owl nest box that he just installed about 2 weeks ago.)

In December of 2004, I installed 2 Barn Owl nest boxes in Potter Valley, and I returned to the ranch past weekend to install another Barn Owl nest box and to see if the Barn Owl nest boxes that installed last month had Barn Owls. Well, both Barn Owl nest boxes installed in December of 2004 now have Barn Owls in them, and I expect that when I return the nest box that we installed this passed weekend will also have Barn Owls. The catalyst for Barn Owl successes in Potter Valley are do to an old Barn Owl nest box that was installed by the previous owners of the ranch and this old Barn Owl nest box also has a breeding pair of Barn Owls inside.

You asked "Can these larger raptors take geese?"

The answer to your question is "No Barn Owls will not take geese."

Barn Owls are known to be selective feeders, only killing prey that they can swallow whole. Thought the may take a small rabbit to be torn apart to feed small owlets, most prey taken is of the rodent variety, swallowed whole and the regurgitated Barn Owl pellets are the undigested bones and fur that you'll find inside or around the nest box.

However, the Great Horned Owl, the Red-tail Hawk, and the Golden Eagle, plus larger mammalian predators will take geese, ducks, chickens, Barn Owls (the Great Horned Owl takes Barn Owls), cats, and small dogs.

Just to supplement what John has already mentioned regarding Barn Owls, the link below is from our "All About Birds" web site and might be of interest to those of you curious about Barn Owls.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Barn_Owl.html

Note the "Detailed Page" tab offers more information and a larger range map.

Cheers,

Megan Whitman
Project Assistant
The Birdhouse Network

From: John Schuster [mailto:wildwingco"at"earthlink.net]
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 12:11 PM
Subject: Why are there no Barn Owls in an given area?

...I've had people tell me that around the great lakes area (i.e. Chicago etc.) there are no Barn Owls at all, so I'm not disagreeing, but I have to question these statement.

Barn Owls do fly in complete silence, and people do not even know that they area around, so they could be there. However, lets just say that the above vanishing is completely true (and probably is), so let's take this vanishing a step furthermore.

Why are there no Barn Owls in an given area?

The answer is almost as simple as the question.

For hundreds of years, Barn Owls have lived in and around people, particularly around farms or where rodents are prevalent. What has reduced the number of Barn Owls (or in some areas they've vanished) is that mankind always changes the environment to suit his or her needs, without considering the consequences as to how their actions will effect natures balance.

For example. if for years Barn Owls had lived in a Barn, and that Barn was remodeled by the land owner, the Barn Owls would vacate that area. If evergreen trees where Barn Owls like to hide during the day had been removed, again the Barn Owls would vacate that area. Now exposed to natures killers (i.e. a Murder of Crows, day time raptors, other birds and mammals) an exposed Barn Owl may not make it to safety, so now you have no Barn Owls. There are other factors to consider, and I could go on, but these few points illustrate a simple picture.

Patients and time, time and patients is what cavity nesting conservation is all about. This thinking applies to Barn Owls just as it does with Bluebirds and or other cavity nesting avian. Putting up Barn Owl nest boxes in an areas where Barn Owls use to be, or where you want them is a vision in action and I can guaranty you this, “you will never get Barn Owls into your area without installing a Barn Owl nest boxes.”

Here at our vineyard in Cotati, it took us 2 years to get Bluebirds, now we have loads of Bluebirds here all year long. In this same vineyard, it took us 4 years (other vineyard operations it took a month to a year) to get Barn Owls When the Barn Owls did move in they moved into 1 of 2 nest box only. Now 2 of 2 nest boxes (spaced 100 yards apart) have Barn Owl breeders, so this year we plan to install more Barn Owls nest boxes to get even more Barn Owl to our vineyard, so they can thump more rodents.

We’re doing our part, so if you can, take action to preserve these valuable and beneficial cavity nesting raptors, by supplying your local Barn Owls a safe place to roost and breed. By taking action, you will assure future generations the joy of seeing Barn Owls, and the Barn Owls will thank you for giving them a place to safely roost and breed in by thumping the local rodents in your area.

A fantastic trade off in my opinion.

According to "The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Michigan"
published in 1991 (fieldwork done 1983-88)...

The literature suggests the Barn Owl was extremely rare in Michigan until late in the 1800s. Their numbers were no doubt limited by the scarcity of nonwooded cover in wilderness Michigan. Using the grassland habitats that developed as a part of farm operations of earlier eras, Barn Owls had become fairly common in some southern counties by the 1930s.
The species apparently began declining in the mid 1940s.

The demise of the Barn Owl is largely attributable to the loss of grassland habitat and associated declines in the prey base. This loss of grassland was the result of changing agricultural practices involving decreased hay and pasture and more row crops like corn and beans. Remaining grasslands are converting to brushland through succession or being replaced by legumes such as alfalfa and clover that do not support the higher prey base associated with grass-dominated areas.

Barn Owls, especially the young, are preyed upon by Great Horned Owls. As the grasslands shrink and Barn Owls using remnant grassland habitats are forced closer to brushland edges, predation by Great Horned Owls becomes more significant. Surprisingly, many Barn Owls are killed in collisions with automobiles.
It is probable that they are attracted to the narrow roadside grassland habitats.

Iowa recently completed a captive-rearing project in which 427 Barn Owls were released. They reported very poor results and attributed their losses to avian predation (primarily Great Horned Owls), collisions with vehicles, and mammalian predation. Prolonged snow cover of even 10 cm [4 in] may provide enough shelter for small mammals to contribute to Barn Owl mortality from starvation.

...During the 1st breeding bird atlas, only 1 nest was found & only 5 owls were observed out of breeding season. We are currently in the midst of fieldwork for the 2nd atlas & so far no Barn Owl nests have been found. The Michigan Natural Features Inventory (part of the DNR) is currently doing an owl survey, so it's not like people aren't looking. (When you survey for owls, you play a tape with owl calls & wait to see if anything responds. Luckily, that late at night, there aren't many passers-by to look at you strangely. :-]) I think here it's a question of habitat, & we just don't have the right stuff. I bet John's vineyards are perfect.

=====
Torrey Moss
Kalamazoo Nature Center
Kalamazoo, MI

Dear Gail and Friends,

Like Larry and other have stated, the Great Horned Owl is not a cavity nesters, but an opportunistic nester, taking over last year's Red-tailed Hawks, Red Shoulder Hawks and other larger nests too.

Known as the Tiger of the Night Sky, Great Horned Owl will kill just about anything that it can handle and take by surprise. Larry's list of prey is complete, but you can add more to that list.

Great Horned Owls will kill Barn Owls, Screech Owls, and on a news report last year they stated that Great Horned Owls were aggressively killing Spotted Owls too (so much for the old growth tree theory.) You can also include small barnyard animals and small pets to the list of prey for the Tiger of the Night Sky.

If you desire cavity nesting owls, then consider Barn Owls or Screech Owls. Of the 2 owls the Barn Owl is mans and a farmers best friend, as the Barn Owls is in my opinion, the premier rodent killer on the planet and a valuable resource that needs to be preserved along side all the other NATIVE cavity nesters.

You can read more about Barn Owls on our web site below....

John Schuster
Wild Wing Company, Owner / Operator
Web address: www.wildwingco.com

From: Chuck Jensen [mailto:cjensen"at"dts9000.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 9:07 AM
Subject: RE: O/T "Hit List" For Crows

Owls are not as benign as you might think. In fact, they are a bane to many purple martin landlords. Great horned and Barred Owls will come into a colony, perch on the perches and proceed to clean out house, or gourd, after house if owl guards aren't in place or deep gourds or apartments aren't provided. An owl once trained this way, looks on the local colony as the PM Buffet. Barn and screech owls are not a problem.

Chuck

From: John Schuster [mailto:wildwingco"at"earthlink.net]
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 12:10 PM
Subject: O/T Great Horned Owls, eating Western Spotted Owls, Barn Owls and Screech Owls

Dear Chuck and friends,

About 2 years ago, there was a news report on my radio about a study that was completed about Great Horned Owls killing off Western Spotted Owls. It was determined on this report that it was not the cutting down of old growth trees that had depleted the Western Spotted Owl populations, but the Great Horned Owls killing off the Western Spotted Owls. Almost as quickly as this report was made it was swept under the carpet.

Don't misunderstand me, I love old growth trees and put my life on the line many times to save old growth trees and forests from forest fires when I worked for CDF (California Division of Forestry) so I do not want to see old growth trees cut down for any reason, but the report about Great Horned Owls killing Western Spotted Owls had credibility.

Great Horned Owls will kill just about anything (Barn Owls and Screech Owls are also on the Great Horned Owl menu) that they can nail and handle by stealth, so the Western Spotted Owl is just another meal to the Great Horned Owl as are small cats and dogs.

However, I have to agree with Chuck, that you shouldn't fear the Barn Owls or Screech Owls as they have bigger fish to fry (i.e. rats, mice and other rodents) so they may perch on your Purple Martin houses, but they'll leave the occupancies alone.

...John Schuster

I got a call the other night from a neighbor who had a sick/injured animal at his house. He could hear horrible moans or screams or SOMETHING but could not find the animal. He said it sounded like it drifted through his yard and on down into our property. He said it was in EXTREME pain from the sounds it was making. He said it could NOT have gone through their yard and the neighbors yard because of all of their dogs!

Last night Sandy and I got home late and right outside our garage a horrible squeal, scream, moan drifted through the air. Our Beagle came running out acting like nothing was unusual and greeted us while this horrible pain racked GHOST let out one blood curdling squall after another. It was eerie as even though it was long and drawn out it was a sound you could not pin point as it seemed to come from all directions.

When Snoopy refused to pick up a scent I started searching the tree tops with a strong flash light and sure enough the pain raked creature was sitting right there on a limb! A young Barred Owl! Anyway adult owls are often in the yard and they are easy to hoot up and talk to. This young owl did not respond to hoots or cackling type laughter of the adults but Sandy could get it to squeal and chortle with the right sounds....Maybe it just missed it's mother:-))

It has been a long time since I heard a wild animal make such eerie sounds and I got goose bumps for a while thinking we really had a Ghost!!! Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant Texas

From: Dick Stauffer [mailto:sapl"at"agt.net]
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 10:09 AM
Subject: raptors

This weekend I had the pleasure of taking my grand children to Coaldale, Alberta to the Birds of Prey Center. This is a facility that rehabilitates raptors. Two things impress me, the hands on for everyone & the fact that the facility is privately run. This facility is doing a captive breeding / release of the endangered Burrowing Owl.
Web site has allot of information www.birdsofprey.ca

Dick Stauffer

From: John Schuster [mailto:wildwingco"at"earthlink.net]
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 12:43 AML
Subject: Barn Owls, Cats and Rats!

Dear Sharon, Dot and friends,

The problem with cats is that they can be out classed by a large rat.

Not long ago a friend gave me a news clipping about Mexico importing cats to deal with an enormous rat problem that they having down there. After I read the clip I told me friend "it will never work" (for the reasons that I described above.)

Anyone that knows about Mexico and their open garbage pits, can only imagine the size of the rats. Some time later we heard that the importation of cats to deal with rats was a dismal failure. The rat problem is still as big as it ever was, but now the country is over run with cats too. I considered approaching the Mexican government about Barn Owls (there are plenty of Barn Owls down there) for knocking off rats and I have friends that could help me too, but it's pretty corrupt so I decided to let that one go.

The above relationship with cats and rats doesn't apply to Barn Owls, rats and other rodents. Barn Owls hunt by hearing the high frequency sounds that rodents make so there is no eye to eye confrontation like a cat that meets a rat.

Once the rodent is detected the Barn Owl kites above the rodent to get a radar like fix on the rodents location below. Then the Barn Owl comes down with it's wings back, eyes closed, legs fully extended an it's talons fully opened to "THUMP" (I've heard this THUMP many time in our vineyards and every time I hear it I know another rodent has bitten the dust) the rodent below with 100% accuracy and then crushes their prey in just a few seconds. The more the rodent moves the tighter the crush until it is all over. I've seen dead rodents left at the base of Barn Owl nest boxes that the Barn Owls failed to pull through the entrance hole. With their eyes bulging blood shoot out of their sockets and completely crushed you can truly see the power that a Barn Owl exudes on it's prey.

Now I know allot about Barn Owls, but when it comes to my pal Steve Simmons, I'm still in grade school. For those that do not know Steve he cleans out hundreds of Barn Owl nest boxes and bands 1,600 to 3,000 owlets ever year.

Steve once told me, "you haven't felt anything like the crushing pain that a Barn Owl can deliver to your forearm, even threw a thick pair of welding gauntlets." Steve continued, "The only way you can get them to relax their death grip is to relax your arm mussels." Imagine trying to do that when your forearm is in a vice. Wow!

Even if a Barn Owl latches onto a large rat that it killed, but will not be able to swallow whole because it is to big, at least the rodent is dead which is more than I can say for the neighbors cat that can clean up the Barn Owls left overs at it's leisure.

... John Schuster

...

Barn Owls in Ohio
There's been an ongoing (17 years now) nestbox study. Their hatch-year survival rate is about 30% (it's tough being a young predator), & their adult survival rate goes anywhere between 25% and 99% (depending on snow depth mostly). Area fidelity in young birds is 25% & in adult birds is 75%. Birds who do not return may have died, left the area, or in a natural cavity or barn. The relationship between the population using the nestboxes & the population using natural cavities is unknown -- Until they know more, they can't use "their" owls to estimate the overall population. (Part of the problem is that they're not monitoring natural cavities.) According to habitat models developped from which nestboxes get used most, southeast Ohio seems to have the best habitat for Barn Owls.

...

Torrey Wenger
Kalamazoo Nature Center
Kalamazoo, MI

From: Vicki Butler [mailto:butlerrowe"at"sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 11:33 AM
Subject: Re: It's never too late to put up a nestbox!

I am in the process of making my first barn owl box (Steve Simmons desgin). I was in a nesting box post partum depression and thought that making a new box would help. I have a friend that has 5 acres in the middle of cherry orchards, I think it would be an ideal spot for an owl box.

I volunteered to build some replacement owl boxes for a local national preserve. I'm thinking my next new box will be some Kestrel boxes.

This year's Barn owl fledgings will be looking for new territory, so I'm hopeful that new boxes will be occupied quickly.

I'm stil looking for bluebirds that I can attract to my boxes and bluebirders in Sacramento.

Vicki Butler
Sacramento CA

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