On the question of putting boxes for both Barn and Screech Owls near
eachother:

My question is whether there are any records of Barn Owls eating Screech
Owls? I'm sure it's not common. I just did a bit of an internet search and
one Washington State study I found puts "birds" at 1% of Barn Owl prey, but
I couldn't find anything about bird species eaten. I know their typical
foraging habitat is different, but I'm still not sure I'd put the boxes too
close to eachother.

Stewart Wechsler
Seattle
ecostewart at quidnunc.net

-----Original Message-----
From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
[mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu]On Behalf Of Kelly Cassidy
Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2003 5:35 PM
To: Tweeters; inlandbirders
Subject: Nest box installation


I'm working on having a good selection of nest boxes available for spring
house-hunting. Building the nest boxes is the easy part. Getting them high
enough in a tree to attract a variety of birds is a real challenge. We have
put up a Barn Owl-sized and a Screech-Owl-sized box. (By "we", I mean my
long-suffering husband George has risked life and limb on an extension
ladder while I stood on the bottom step and offered useless advice). The big
Barn Owl box is at about 12 ft high and the Screech-Owl box is at 15 ft. I'd
like to get a few boxes at least 20 ft up; 30 ft if I can figure out how to
do it.

Any tips on hanging a box, especially a large box, up high? I put a hook in
the top, which is useful for attaching a rope and pulleying the box up.
There's still that sticky problem of climbing a ladder with a drill and a
cordless screwdriver and working on a bulky object from a precarious
platform. It's especially hard to attach the top of the box. I fantasize
about a system of hooked feet, remote controlled from the ground, that I
would use to maneuver the box into place, then a set of screws driven by
miniature jet packs that I could also set off by remote control. Sadly, I
lack NASA's budget and access to its engineers. Does anyone have any tips
about getting a nest box high and firmly attached? (I am seriously thinking
of getting about 10 boxes built and then hiring an arborist to install them
all in a day if it's not too expensive.)

Kelly Cassidy
Pullman

---
Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.548 / Virus Database: 341 - Release Date: 12/5/2003

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.548 / Virus Database: 341 - Release Date: 12/5/2003