Owl in duck box

[TS Wilson]

I have a wood duck box in the water about 150 feet from my martin housing. Late yesterday I noticed a barn owl peering out the hole. Is there harm in allowing him to stay or should I "encourage" him to move elsewhere? I've not had any owl predation in the 5 year history of this colony.

[Bird Brain]

You should count your lucky stars. Barn owls are a blessing and don't bother martins that I'm aware of. I read they can eat around 2000 rats per year. I would add another house just for it and make it higher obviously. Eliminate your rat poison and let it do its thing. Here's a good one.

http://coveside.com/_store/card_view.asp?itemnr=10180

[C.C.Martins]

Lucky! Very nice!

[Brad Biddle]

A friend of mine had a colony wiped out by Barn Owls. I didn't see the owls, but he called them Barn Owls and his description fit. They may not normally prey on birds but a Martin colony is a buffet sitting there for the taking. I'd close up the duck box and make it move.

[gray fox]

I have tried for about 30 years to get barn owls. I have a Martin colony close too the barn. If I got barn owls I would put up owl guards on the gourds. Barn owls are more endangered than martins.

[Sharon - Central TX]

That’s funny because we had the opposite happen. A black bellied whistling duck went into our owl house high up on an oak tree. She laid one egg, got stuck inside and couldn’t get out. My husband had to take the bottom portion of the house off to make room for her to get out. He has never put it back on so no owls or ducks in it now

[KathyF]

Is it a barn owl or a barred owl? I'm just not sure I'd take the chance. If she's nesting, she'll have little owlets to feed and will go for easy food sources. If there are no eggs, I'd evict her.

Either way, this came from the allaboutbirds website:
Barn Owls eat mostly small mammals, particularly rats, mice, voles, lemmings, and other rodents; also shrews, bats, and rabbits. Most of the prey they eat are active at night, so squirrels and chipmunks are relatively safe from Barn Owls. They occasionally eat birds such as starlings, blackbirds, and meadowlarks. Nesting Barn Owls sometimes store dozens of prey items at the nest site while they are incubating to feed the young once they hatch.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bar ... story#food

[Bird Brain]

I've seen many legitimate complaints on this site about Barred owls and Great Horned owls raiding sights. I don't recall any similar complaints about screech owls or barn owls.