Screech owl in the house!
Look who’s here! A little screech owl has moved into our owl box.
For the past few days, I’d suspected we had a tenant. The box is visible from the window over the kitchen sink, and looking into the dark opening I’d seen a shadow or color that wasn’t there before. But the owl waited until last evening to show itself.
At dusk I sat on the deck with camera resting on the rail, poised to snap the owl in mid-launch as it left the box to hunt. Magically, a great horned owl hooted in the distance as I watched the screech owl. The owl leaned out of the box, looking left and right. I tensed my finger on the shutter…
Click! He was gone without a sound, my finger much too slow to catch the flight.
It’s such a delight to observe this wild creature making its home in our garden. The owl box, which my husband made for me a couple of Christmases ago, is truly a gift that keeps on giving.
All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
What a gift to have this little one in your garden. Would your husband share the measurements?
He doesn’t remember, Darla. He got the plans off one of the many websites that offer them, maybe Audubon? I’ve seen a couple of different styles of boxes on Austin blogs, and the screech owls seem to like them all. —Pam
You lucky lady to have that little owl to entertain you this winter. I hope it is successful raising a family there. Now won’t that be fun.
Yes, I would love to have a repeat of last year’s success, and more owlets. Fingers crossed! —Pam
I never knew there was such a thing as an owl box. I’m going to have to look into this. I was excited when a pileated woodpecker flew across my road last week. What a magnificent bird. Big. I’m still celebrating my blogoversary – and I’m giving away the first of three books from Storey Publishing. I hope you’ll help me celebrate.
I’d love to have seen that woodpecker—lucky you! As for the owl boxes, many Austinites use them to attract eastern screech owls. Last year we had an owl all winter, and in spring two owlets hatched and eventually fledged from the box. It was so much fun to watch. —Pam
What a treat to see the little Screech Owl. You did get a few nice pictures of him. The only owls I hear here are off in the distance.
We hear screech owls and great horned owls all year in the greenbelt behind our house. In the summer the box stays empty unless a squirrel moves in. But in early winter male screech owls start looking for a nesting site to attract a female, or so I understand. By spring, there are owlets. Our first set of owlets left the nest at the end of May earlier this year. —Pam
That is so exciting~he/she is marvelous looking. How far above the ground did you place the box? I may need to visit our local bird supply shop to see what we can do to attract owls! gail
Gail, the box is supposed to be placed just under the tree canopy, as screech owls hunt under the canopy. Our owl box is about 12 feet off the ground, as you can see if you click the link (scroll to the last picture). We worried it should be higher, but it seems to be working. You need one! —Pam
So cool – I know what I’m asking Santa for this year!
It makes a great gift. Just be patient that first year; we waited a year to see our first owls. —Pam
How wonderful to have such an amazing creature living in your garden! Hoping in future your finger will be faster!
Me too, Alison! —Pam
YEAY!!!!
You said it, Kelly. —Pam
I’m a complete sucker for owls! Thanks for sharing.
You’ll be sick of ’em in a few months, Liza. I tend to overshare where our owls are concerned. 😉 —Pam
I occasionally hear owls around the house, though I’ve never seen one. I’ll have to patrol the arroyo behind, with all the oaks they must be hanging out in.
Are they screech owls, David? And if so, I would guess they are the western species? —Pam
That’s wonderful! Owls are such cool birds. Don’t fret over not getting the shot, I’m sure you’ll have lots of opportunities now that you have a resident.
I hope so, MMD. Last year the owl lived in the box for months, so there should be more opportunities. —Pam
How exciting!!!!! I always feel so honored when an amazing creature like this makes a home in my garden. Out of all the places he could have gone, he chose your garden 🙂 Getting a picture of him in flight is about like my experience of trying to get a photo of a falling leaf — you’ve got to be QUICK!!
I’ll have to keep trying, Toni. Having more light later in the year will help. —Pam
I’ll bet you catch the flight with your camera when the days begin to lengthen. We just watched a docu on Audubon last night. I was surprised to learn he killed all the birds for his portraits, so there was definitely a sacrifice paid for his marvelous Birds of North America. Thank goodness for modern fast shutter speeds.
I had read that too, Denise. A sacrifice for science and art, but times were different then. —Pam
Wow! I’m just fascinated by this whole idea. We have screech owls in the trees, I wonder if they would appreciate an owl box. Can you tell if it is the same set of owls each year? Thanks.
David/ Tropical Texana/ Houston :0)
I just compared this owl with photos of last year’s, and I think they’re different. Hard to tell though. You should give an owl box a try, David. It’s very fun to watch them. —Pam
Oh my goodness! That is so amazing! What a great visitor to your yard.
We’re enjoying the now-daily sightings, Meemsnyc. —Pam
Awww, how sweet! We have an owl box too, though I don’t know that there’s anyone in it yet. Congrats on your new tenant!
I hope an owl moves into your owl shack soon too, Jodi. —Pam
Oh he is AMAZING! You lucky duck! Funny because I was just thinking of owls – wondering what kind we have here in Austin because my bookclub has been discussing (among others) Jane Yolen’s picture book Owl Moon. It’s a short read – you should check it out if you haven’t already!
Hi, Chandra. I’ll look for Owl Moon at the library. I know we have eastern screech owls and great horned owls here in Austin. I wonder if there are others as well? Probably barred owls. —Pam
I guess we’ve had our Owl Shack up for about a year. We followed all the instructions on how to place it, but we’re still waiting for our first tenant. I peeked inside this weekend, and it’s clean, dry, and empty. No wasps or bees, either. Maybe this year will be our year for an owl, fingers crossed! A friend of a friend had a owl that spent a few months in a windowbox on their front porch, of all places.
I bet this will be the year for you, Caroline. We waited just over a year for our first owl. How strange about the owl nesting in a windowbox though! —Pam
Very cool Pam,
I picked up two nice big gourds at the farmers market in my village just this past weekend to make birdhouses. I was kind of bummed when I read that it may take 4-6 months until they dry out enough to use. I guess it will be a spring time project for my and my youngest daughter.
Thanks for the link to the Audubon Society.
Rees
Birdhouses seem to require patience, but the gourd project sounds like fun. —Pam
Awesome photos! He’s such a beauty and how lucky you were to even *see* him! I have one living in my backyard somewhere and I hear him, and have caught a glimpse of him, but no full on sighting yet. What a blessing for you! Beautiful pics Pam…thanks for sharing 🙂
My pleasure, Diana. I’m glad you enjoyed them. —Pam
Wow, a Christmas gift that keeps on giving! Aren’t you lucky… Thanks for sharing.
It’s been a great gift, Lisa. I hope it gets used for years to come. —Pam
We’ve had screech owls in our wood duck box for nearly 20 years. I can appreciate how great your photos are, since every time they see us trying to get a look — even from across the road — they immediately pull their head inside.
Your owls sound so shy compared to ours. Wow, 20 years?! That’s amazing. —Pam
Fun post ! So If I have a owl house we may get some visitors ? Your little guy is really cute. Has to be nice seeing him outside your kitchen window.
Yes, we can watch him while we eat lunch and dinner, as he’s often roosting in the doorway at those times. —Pam
you are so lucky! wonder what it would take to put up one of those live night cams so you can monitor their coming and goings!
Someone in Austin does that every year with their owl box. It IS fun to see the chicks in there. —Pam
So tell me, is he roosting there to keep himself warm as the jet stream drops down into the deep south? How nice to be able to see him from your window. Our house is back in among the trees. I heard a terrible noise of birds fussing out there the other morning. When I investigated there were a dozen or more tufted titmice flying around the house. They would land on the edge of the opening and look in and then fly off, then come back again and again. I was wondering if there was something in there-a snake? an owl? I wish. Maybe next year. We have the great horned owl too. Wonder what size their house would be?
Boy, it would have to be big, wouldn’t it? Great horned owls are large birds. Your titmice sound very bold. I hope they didn’t scare off your little screech owl. —Pam
oh wow! i’ve heard they are around my neighborhood too, but i didn’t know it was so easy to ‘invite’ them to stay! i’ll be building a box this weekend. maybe they’ll help with the obnoxious squirrel population >:)
I don’t know if they’re big enough to eat squirrels, Suzie, but I keep hoping. —Pam
How wonderful! He’s a very handsome fellow! I hear screech owls here, but rarely if ever see them as we have so many trees. I’ve considered building owl houses, but wondered if they’d really use them in the middle of the woods…might be worth a try though! Congratulations on your new resident!
It’s definitely worth a try. My neighborhood has an extensive canopy of live oaks, with a greenbelt just behind my house, and the owl box is getting used. Hey, who wouldn’t like a comfy, roomy, dry box instead of a damp hole in a tree? —Pam
Very cool photos. I would love to see a screech owl in a house like that.
Give an owl box a try, Donna. —Pam
Pam, how fabulous! Great photos–owls are so hard to capture–and you got his full face and eyes looking at you. Glad you shared this.
It was my pleasure, Kathleen. I hope to get more pics when I have time to stalk him over the holidays. —Pam
Ahhh, still waiting for a tenant for our owl house.
Maybe this will be the year, Bonnie. Fingers crossed! —Pam
I have a question for owl lovers out there. I recently noticed we had an Eastern Screech Owl “dive bombing” me while I would open the gate to our yard for my wife’s return from work. I found out that there are 2 and that they had made their home in a hollowed out tree in the yard. I build an owl box for them and mounted it to a tree not far from the tree they were/are using.I did this after seeing them roosted out in the open all day after a very hard rain the night before (the hole they have been using is open facing up). I haven’t seen them since and am wondering if I could have scared them off by putting the box I built near their lair. Thank you in advance for your comments.
I really don’t know, Wayne, being a fairly recent owl watcher myself. My uneducated guess would be that your dive-bombing pair already had eggs or chicks in the nest. Maybe they’re hunkered down, waiting for peace and quiet after all the uproar. I would watch and see if they reappear. Maybe they’ll choose your nesting box next year. —Pam