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Operation Barn Owl Nest Box | Farm Bureau | Article

Published February 24th,2010 In the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman.

Operation Barn Owl Nest box
By Tim Love of Love’s Wildlife Control

Love’s Wildlife Control is proud to announce the involvement of Farm Bureau into the Operation Barn Owl Nest box project. Marion County Farm Bureau has graciously awarded a $500 community Enhancement Grant to LWC. The grant is good on a first come first served basis for $25 off a purchase of a Barn Owl Nest box or boxes for the first 20 Marion County members who get involved. The boxes are sold and installed by Love’s Wildlife Control. All sales and donations are put directly back into the project. Donations are greatly appreciated. Actual retail costs of these boxes are over $100 dollars each, but are currently being sold and installed by Love’s Wildlife Control locally for $70.

The Creation- My name is Tim Love, owner and operator of Love’s Wildlife Control (LWC). I resolve conflicts between humans and wildlife. I specialize in pocket gopher and mole control. Last spring (09’) while attending the Hawkeye Farm Show in Cedar Falls, a visitor to my booth told me that he used Barn Owls to keep his gophers in check in his hayfields. This conversation led me to begin research on the Barn Owl. I spent a great deal of time on the Internet and the telephone learning as much as I could about these amazing birds. I came to the conclusion that here in Iowa the barn owl has an abundance of prey available but few and dwindling numbers of nesting sites. I believe I am fortunate to operate a business doing what I love to do and feel compelled to give back to Mother Nature. I want to help the Barn Owl. Operation Barn Owl Nest box is a part of my business that I have set aside to operate at cost, to give back to nature.

The Plan- Give the Barn Owls a Home. Barn Owls are an endangered bird in Iowa. Barn Owls are very “wimpy” birds and have a high mortality rate but this high mortality is off-set by being highly prolific. 200 years ago, Iowa had large numbers of old hollow trees in which the barn owl could call home. In time, many of these trees were cleared by humans for development either for residential or agricultural use. As these trees were eliminated the Barn Owl adapted and took advantage of barns for protection, thus the name Barn Owl. Today many of the old barns have been remodeled with steel siding and access has been denied to the Barn Owl. The barns that have not been updated either are destroyed or left to ruin. This basically has left the Barn Owl homeless in Iowa. My plan is to erect as many nest boxes as I possibly can. This is the only logical thing we can do to help the Barn Owl. I believe that once these birds begin to find and use the boxes their natural abilities will bring their population back to acceptable levels in Iowa. This comeback will take years to happen and be slow in the beginning but once we have significant numbers of these birds reproducing, and continue to create homes for them, the population can thrive.

The Benefits- Having Barn Owls living on or near your property is very beneficial because these birds diet consists of nearly 100% rodents. A pair of Barn Owls feeding young, account for literally thousands of rodents consumed a year. The main rodent on their diet is the vole but mice, rats, moles, shrews, and gophers fit the bill as well. Rodents take refuge in terraces, waterways, fencerows and outbuildings. When larger predators such as the badger, fox, coyote, and skunk pursue these rodents in those places, considerable damage is done to your property. Rodenticide spread over the land is costly and unsafe to non targets, humans included. Control has different meanings to different people. I do not want to give the impression that Barn Owls will end all your rodent problems but that Barn Owls do provide a balance and make a considerable dent in the rodent population. Barn Owls in my opinion are a farmers best friend and employee as they work 24/7/365 consuming rodents.

Guarantee- There is no guarantee that you will get a Barn Owl to use the boxes. I can guarantee if there is no nest site available on your property you will not have them reproducing and thriving on your land. In my mind I see zero nest sites now. If we put two boxes in an area and 1 pair raises one brood of 5 young we are now short 4 boxes. You can clearly see the challenges that the Barn Owls face, all revved-up and nowhere to go! Since Barn Owls can have 2 broods a year you can understand why I think it is important to get as many boxes up as possible. Even one box in an area is a good start as more can be added later if a mated pair is known to exist.

Jessica Love after installing Nest box near Beech, IA.

To Date- Currently we have 26 boxes installed and 9 more boxes sold and ready to put up when the weather is fit. We can mount the uprights to an existing fence post but have found that it is best to mount the box on a 16’ 4X4 and set this in the ground. The boxes are made with ½” plywood sun shades built onto them. The box openings always face east to avoid the bad weather. The boxes are constructed of ¾” CDX plywood in such a way that water is shed off; they are screwed and glued together. They are stained gray with a very high quality stain made by “Super Deck” which features Carnauba oil. The upright posts are mounted to the bottom of the box with a steel bracket and are wrapped with a sheet of 24” aluminum flashing to keep climbing predators and unwanted guests out. This is the beginning of this project, so I do not know of any boxes being used but I have spotted 4 barn owls since last fall. Next fall (2010) Marla and I will be checking all the boxes for signs of use.

Pastures, next to row crops, provide plenty of rodents for Barn Owls.

Conclusion- Barn Owls need our help. Seeing a Barn Owl is like a religious experience to me and other bird lovers I have talked too. They are cavity dwellers and operate by cover of darkness so they are seldom seen. Many people I have talked with remember when they were young having a pair of Barn Owls in their barn. The main predators of Barn Owls are the Great Horned Owl and the raccoon. Since most hollow trees and old barns are currently occupied by the Raccoon, safe nest sites are very limited for the Barn Owl. Keeping these boxes out in the grasslands and away from the big woods offers the best protection from the Great Horned Owl and the aluminum flashing on the box post keeps the raccoon at bay. If you are a Marion County member and are interested in purchasing one or more boxes contact Farm Bureau at 641-842-6214. If you are not a Marion County FB member you may contact Love’s Wildlife Control at 641-891-7194.
Acknowledgements-The success of this project would not be possible without these people and I want to thank them for their help so far. First Lloyd Philips of Knoxville, IA has afforded me the use of his woodworking shop to build these boxes. Lloyd’s input of the box design and the hours that he volunteers towards this project, Bruce Ehresman of the IDNR for his past Barn Owl research and input into this project, Marla Mertz the Naturalist for Marion County Conservation Board, for here encouragement and very helpful presentation ideas, John Schuster of “Wild Wing Co.” of CA for his input of the boxes as well as information on the Birds, Paul Vitek of Spahn and Rose Lumber and Jeff Isley of Isley Welding and Repair both of Knoxville for the charitable contributions. Thank you all very much, Tim

Tim Love and Lloyd Phillips with the first box installed in Kay Harsin’s pasture.

For further information on the Barn Owl and the Operation Barn Owl Nest box project visit www.absolutegophercontrol.com and click on the Operation Barn Owl Nest box tab. Here you will find more in-depth details of the project and links to other sites about Barn Owls and information on how to order the video “Backyard Barn Owls” by Bert Kersey. This video is fantastic and worth every penny.

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