Tawny Owl Nest Box
The Tawny Owl Box is a purpose built nesting box for the familiar too-whit too-whoo owl of woodlands. The box is handmade in our Gloucestershire workshops and is an effective way of offering a nesting cavity to tawny owls, particularly in places where there may not be natural hollows such as in large gardens with healthy trees, secondary woodland and also coniferous plantations.
Tawnies are territorial birds and so only one pair will occupy a woodland territory and nest site. This design of box is readily taken up by nesting owls, particularly if they are looking for new nest sites and may be used every year.
- Handmade from solid FSC timber
- Slow-seasoned timber negates the need for chemical, stains or artificial preservatives
- Lightweight but durable
- Re-cycled plastic upper and lower hanging/fixing plates
- Integral perch
- Large inspection door with bolt
- Fitted with camera clip
- suggested camera: Hi-Spec Colour & Infrared Camera Kit
Siting The Tawny Owl box should be sited high on a mature tree between 3.5 and 5 metres with clear flight path to the entrance. When the fledgings emerge they use nearby branches to access higher areas of the tree canopy. Hence mounting the tawny owl box on an isolated pole is unsuitable.
The box should ideally face East / North East or South East. The availability of prey species close to the nesting box is vital. Tawny Owls eat a wide variety of prey including mice, voles, rats, insects, invertibrates, amphibians and birds. The proximity of fruiting or nut bearing trees and shrubs that support these target species would indicate a suitable nesting site.
Monitoring and inspection Tawny owls are early breeding birds and some individuals may lay eggs as early as January. The box may be inspected in May but care should be taken opening the inspection hatch as tawny owls can be aggressive if young are present or nearb
