Designed by a leading owl researcher, Barn Owlthe nest box is made of molded plastic, is lightweight, easy to install, and features a landing ledge, an entrance hole, a research window, and a removable front. Mark Browning, a field researcher for the Pittsburgh Zoo who conducted the first satellite telemetry study of the barn owl, designed the box to provide farmers with a long-lasting, affordable accessory to their pest management programs and to enhance barn owl conservation efforts.
“The barn owl is being used for pest management in the vineyards of California, sugar cane fields of Australia, dairy and crop farms of the U.S., and the oil-palm plantations of South East Asia,” says Browning. “Such enterprises report needing to use less poisons, and having less crop damage as a result. The trouble is that wooden boxes are heavy, labor intensive to build, and frequently need replaced.”
The Barn Owl Box Company offers two different models of the Barn Owl Box and each provides a different method of mounting the box according to your needs.
The Barn Model is the first owl box designed to fit withinBarn Owl Box the walls of either wooden or metal buildings. Modern metal barns—which have many advantages over the old wooden barns--have accidentally become one of the downfalls of the barn owl, which has declined in a number of northern states in the U.S.
“Barn owls have always been associated with manmade structures,” says Browning. “But as metal barns increasingly replace old wooden barns, the owls lose prime nesting sites. This is one of the most limiting factors for a large bird like the barn owl that requires a spacious cavity to breed in.”
But the Barn Model satisfies both the needs of the farmer and the owl by allowing the owls access to their box, but not the interior of the building. Importantly, it also prevents pest species from entering the barn. The owner cuts an opening in the side of the barn and attaches the faceplate. An expanding rubber Barn Owl Boxgasket seals any gaps created by ribbing. On the interior of the building, the nest box is secured to a steel mounting-bracket.
The Post Model:
Many agricultural enterprises erect their barn owl boxes on posts in full sun. The problem is the heat that builds up in the interior. The Post Model combines a number of innovative technologies to keep the box near ambient temperatures even on the hottest of days. The use of special polymers in the plastic, heat-reflective barriers, a double-box system, and an efficient venting system create a box that stays close to the temperature in the shade, helping ensure that the young will survive. The Post Model is ideal for open field placement, and for large enterprises that want to establish dense populations of barn owls.
Barn Owl BoxThe Barn Owl, twelve inches tall with a thirty-inch wingspan, sports a white face, throat, and chest, and has golden wings. Known as the spirit owl, ghost owl, or monkey-faced owl, this large predator is the widest-spread land bird in the world, and ranges throughout the United States where it prefers open habitat such as meadows, pastures, cultivated fields, and wetlands. They have large broods for a raptor and often produce more than one brood per year.
As farmers move further away from poisons and take the integrated pest management approach, they are finding that barn owls can help reduce crop damage while at the same time reducing the need for poisons, resulting in less toxins entering the ecosystem.
Baby Barn Owls“Barn owls are prolific breeders and voracious hunters,” says Browning. “A family of barn owls can consume thousands of rodents per year. Putting up a box can produce a lot of benefits, not the least of which is attracting these beautiful owls to your property.”
To order and to find out more about The Barn Owl Box, go to their website at www.barnowlbox.com
or call 1-877-NESTBOX
(877-637-8369).
Media Samples Are Provided Upon Request:
Press Contact: Mark Browning The Barn Owl Box Company 2544 Hobbs Street Pittsburgh, PA 15212
marbro-99@comcast.net
phone: 412.874.9403
