Good tips! Gotta keep our Box o’ Barnies happy and comfy!
this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2025
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May they all be as happy as this one!
I've seen one barn owl in my area ever, out near a golf course. I live in a suburban area with lots of tawny and little owls. Is it worthwhile to add an owl box onto the side of my house?
Barn Owl Trust is UK based and has tips for determining if your property and local environment is suitable for Barn Owls.
I saw one Barn Owl in my area, the only owl I've seen in the wild randomly, about 30 years ago. I was talking to our clinic director asking when we were going to get some Barnies in, and she said in her 15 years there, she's never gotten a single one. The clinic is about 10 minutes from where I grew up and still has a lot of farmland that seems like it would be good owl territory, but we get Screeches and Great Horns, and that seems to be the bulk of it.
If you're not hearing them screeching in your area and you only have the side of a house, both of those seem lower in the likelihood of attracting one, but perhaps the Tawnies or Little Owls may be more suited to where you are. I'm not as familiar with them, as we don't have either of those here, but our North American versions, the Barred and Burrowing Owls often make homes near people and in more public areas.
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