The motivation to install a screech-owl box sprang to life late one night in September of 2020. I had just finished a late-night call with one of my sons when a faint but familiar sound from the backyard caught my attention. I wasted no time in securing a flashlight and making my way to the backyard to hunt for a Western Screech-owl. To my delight, I discovered a pair of them calling from separate trees and joyfully stood below one a moment later.
The encounter brought to mind that I had found one roosting in one of our redbud trees above some bird feeders a few years earlier. I began to think that might be able to install a box and get one to roost in my yard for the winter...and I knew just the right spot. I got way ahead of myself in that moment and envisioned a male finding the box, attracting a female to it in the spring, and keeping watch over his mate and littles ones from inside a nearby spruce tree. I had nothing to lose by planning and executing so I collaborated with another Utah birder who'd already experienced success with screech-owl boxes, and the plan was hatched!
Speaking of plans, I found some online for how to build a nest box, but my sense of urgency outweighed the experience of building a box. I received a box within days of placing an online order. I knew that hatch-year owls, hatched earlier in the spring, would be dispersing from their family groups during the fall, so it was clear that sooner would be better than later for increasing the odds of a bird finding and using a box for the approaching winter months.
I purchased supplies from our local Home Depot. Shortly after giving myself a minor flesh wound inside the store and getting some first aid supplies from one of the store clerks, I was bandaged up and commencing my project on our patio. Apparently, the metal brackets that I picked up for securing the box to the top of a pressure-treated 4x4 post had some pretty sharp edges or burrs on them. Whoever machined those things in the shop didn't seem to have consumer safety in the front nor center of their minds when they created their master pieces. I had to make a joke of the mishap when I realized that simply applying pressure wasn't going to stop the bleeding. I was wondering if I might have to request the proverbial "wet clean up and aisle 10", but the clerks were pleasantly entertained by my predicament and retrieved a first aid kit. I digress.
Here are some images of the process from receiving the box to digging the hole and setting the post in quikrete to affixing the box at the top of the post in a quiet and inviting location in the yard. I can share tips should you ever decide to put up a box in your yard.
Fourteen months and who-knows-how-many glances in that general direction after installing the box, I saw my very first desired resident. I was so relieved when I looked back in that corner and proclaimed, "That is not a flicker!" The nearby conifers turned out to be a day roost at times for an owl and the preferred preening location after an owl left the box to begin its evening activities.
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| Sleepy Western Screech-Owl Soaking up Some Sun |
I was pretty excited to have what I believe to be the same owl return to the box again the following November (2022) through mid-February of 2023. Despite putting up a second box the previous fall and having a male and a female use the boxes at the same time for a few weeks this winter, they seem to have disappeared in favor of an alternative nesting site in recent weeks.
This story will continue should one or both choose to return. Until then, enjoy the birds and wildlife that grace you with their presence.
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