Owls are nocturnal birds of prey with strong and penetrating eyes, large heads, sharp talons, and often eerie hoots.People however have their own reasons why they like watching these wild creatures up close in the wildlife. These natural predators are so enchanting because they are very mysterious birds by nature.These birds hunt small rodents like mice voles, and rats away from the human population. It is just the question of being lucky enough to be able to attract owls to your backyard as many people don’t know how to attract owls or make them visit. It must be known that not all the owl species come where the humans dwell.Owls are wildlife, and you must be trained before obtaining a license to maintain a native species in captivity. Even the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) license does not enable you to keep an owl bird as a household pet—only as a rehabilitation specialist. Because owls eat mice, mice voles, gophers, and other tiny rodents, birders with mice in the vicinity are more likely to attract owls. Leaving the grass uncut in the barn, adding a brush pile, and scattering seeds on the ground make the backyard mouse-friendly, which makes the habitat owl-friendly for this bird to visit. After reading all about attracting owls, do check how to attract dragonflies and how to attract crows?Why to attract owls?Among the nocturnal owls can be said to be one of the most majestic animals on the planet and their ability to fly silently at night is nothing short of amazing! If possible, try putting up a box for nesting owls where you can see an owl already perching in their nesting season—such as nearby a woodsy area or pond with active screech-owls; thus it would be great to nest the owls in a screech owl box.Owls are at risk for the loss of their local habitat. Unfortunately, birds of prey are becoming prey themselves. The loss of their habitat is due to deforestation, which can be prevented by planting more trees and participating in forestry programs. Also, some owls are threatened because these birds do not have access to enough prey items. This may be solved by building an owl nesting box where owls can live protected with ease and comfort until their hunting needs are satisfied.These birds bring many benefits besides being beautiful creatures.These birds pollinate plants in your garden and in the wildlife! How will humans survive without plants?Owls control rodents so these hunting birds will help your garden grow better.Apart from rodents the wild bird also finds its food sources in other insects such as moths, beetles, grasshoppers, and crickets!Their poo will fertilize your garden soil.How to build an owl nesting box?There are many ways for attracting owls; the easiest way to attract this bird is to build an owl nesting box near a tree in your house. It does not take much effort and can make a huge impact on both you and the wild owls! We have to just make sure you do justice by giving them the essence of their local habitat for this bird to attract to it. You would need five to six pieces of wood, hinges, a handle, and an empty jug. To build it into owl nest boxes you’d need a hammer, saw, pencil, drill, and a screwdriver.Step 1. Measure the outside dimensions of your owl nesting box. Keep in mind that you will need to include a front landing board and back ventilation slats, so if your measurements are not exact, don’t worry! You can always improvise. Just follow these basic instructions for making an owl nesting box without all of the extra frills!Step 2. Decide which side of your nesting box will be the back and which will be the front. The front side will have a landing board for the birds to land on to enter. Make these measurements according to how you plan to make your owl neatly box entrance because this depends on what you use for the door.Step 3. Mark off two horizontal lines on each long side of your plywood (front and back). One mark should be the height at which the bottom will go up, and the other should be the distance between this line and the top of where you would like your owl box’s opening to start.There should be ample room to make it a female owl-friendly safe space after she has laid her eggs since she will grow larger as time goes on until hatching. This nesting box may be wider or taller depending on if you want to put in three to four eggs or five to six!Step 4. Mark where you would like your entrance opening to be well before this point so that you have enough room to do your job with because once your lines are cut, they cannot be uncut!Step 5. Cut the bottom board and door out of the same piece of wood.Step 6. Measure the slant that you want your landing board to have from front to back then mark off about 2 in (5 cm) or so from one long side of your plywood.Step 7. Repeat as directed in step four for this piece as well except make it about 1-2 in (2.5-5.08 cm) taller than your existing landing board; don’t screw this either until, after you cut out the door! It should be done lastly before actually screwing everything together to complete your owl box!Step 8. Measure off the length of each side then cut another piece of plywood that measures this exact amount.Now it’s time to attach everything!Step 1. Line up all four pieces; sidewall, landing board, bottom board, and door with their corresponding screws and screw them all into place starting with one corner screwing up one side, across the bottom, and down the other side of the board.Step 2. After this is done firmly, screw in your landing board into place on both sides of your “entrance” with screws placed diagonally through each corner; this is also how you will attach your sliding tray if you choose to do so. You can even cut off some of the excess wood around where your hinge was so that it looks better when you open/close it!Step 3. Now, measure off where you want your entrance to be and drill a hole for it! This is the place that will allow an owl to fly right onto your landing board without having to worry about actually entering.Step 4. The last step is attaching your hinges to the opposite end of the side you attached the door…you can either do this before or after placing screws through both sides to make sure everything stays together. Your nesting box should be attracting owls within a week to a month of setting it up.When is the best time to put up an owl box?The best time to put up your owl nesting box is when you can see little tufts of snow in the morning when the sun rises.It’s best to attach your nesting box in early spring. Owls begin mating as early as January and will begin to build nests on trees as soon as owls can find a suitable site. It’s best to put your nesting box (nests) up so that the owls have plenty of time to look at and consider it before other animals stake claim on it. Make sure that you put your box somewhere high up (minimum 10 ft. or three meters).You may also use fake eggs to trick other animals into not using the nest boxes. Once the owl’s hatch, the mother will usually move them to a new location. If you want to make the process of attracting owls easier, you should do the following.Put your nesting box up in a clear area that isn’t cluttered with trees and other structures. Owls like an open space without trees so that owls can fly from their nest to the ground below without any problems.Place your box somewhere where it will get at least six hours of sunlight every day since this will help keep the interior warm for the eggs and young once they hatch.Tips To Attract OwlsAttracting owls to your backyard can be a difficult task as owls hunt only at night and are often too wary of humans to come closer than 100 ft. (30 m), but getting them used to your presence takes time and patience. To attract owls to your backyard if possible, try putting up the nesting box where you can see an owl already perching—such as near a wooded area, dead trees, barn, or pond with active screech owls as these comprise their natural local habitat. Let us jot down some tips for attracting owls.If you’re in an area where other animals will try to steal your nesting box, attach it with galvanized screws to make sure that owls won’t be able to remove it!Layer some old carpet or pieces of bark inside before adding your owl’s eggs for them to rest on and not on the wood.Place food sources such as peanuts, sunflower seeds, and/or fresh fruit inside once a week so that the owls always have some yummy food there when great horned owls return homeAttach solar-powered owl night lights in your garden to the front of your nesting box to attract owls at night!To lure them even further, play a recording of an owl call to attract owls!It is advised to have a water source near the nesting as owls are fond of ponds and rivers.Keeping a birdbath near the nest is also an intelligent moveThe best boxes for owls should be placed where there is a natural shadeIt is highly unlikely for owls to become pets. Though there have been instances where owls have shown enough trust in humans to become their pets. But if you want to befriend an owl without scaring it away, make sure that all of the lights in your house are off and remain as quiet as possible. Lights are said to turn them blind hence defenseless so they prefer staying away from it. These owl-friendly steps can help be friends with these birds.Place yourself at a distance of about 15 ft. (4.5 m) from where you’d like them to roost for the night and sit there quietly until the pets land; don’t show any movement and keep eye contact with them. Once they’ve landed, walk towards them slowly allowing them time to get used to your presence and continue being quiet.Because the pets frequently lay more than one egg and some even live in social groups as adults, owls have a considerable social impulse that other birds of prey lack, according to what you said. As a result, these nocturnal predators have the potential to be social companions for their human owners providing them a shelter, even to the point of physical touch.Here are some interesting owl attraction techniques.Install nesting boxes to provide owls with a safe and secure place to visit and shelter themselves.Trees should not have huge branches pruned.Set timers for outdoor floodlights.Make bird baths available.Reduce the frequency with which you mow the lawn grass to make the ground more interesting to owls as a hunting site for owls hunt their prey species like mice and dead insects as a food source.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for how to attract owls then why not take a look at how to attract cardinals, or snow owl facts.
Owls are nocturnal birds of prey with strong and penetrating eyes, large heads, sharp talons, and often eerie hoots.
