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We have just been clearing out an old smithy outbuilding at a place we have just moved to and there seems to have been owls nesting in the chimney, but when we asked the previous tenants they dont know what type of owl although they say they come back each year. This building hasn’t been used for years but now we have removed the contents of it and are going to use it fairly regularly however we still want to encourage the owls back but feel our activity may prevent them using the chimney, could we put up a box on the outside of it? And how do we know what type of box? And when should it go up in time for their return?
Help please!
This may help you.
www.barnowltrust.org.uk/infopage.html
Best of luck,
Geoff
Hi Helen
It might be worth asking about what sound the owls are making unless you have heard them yourselves as the two most likely owls to be using a chimney are the tawny (too-whit too-wooo) and the barn owl (mostly hissing sounds). You can listen to their respective calls on our website species pages.
We probably get more reports of tawny owls being found in chimneys, usually in properties surrounded by mature trees or woodland. Both species will take to using nesting boxes so have a look here as well as the link the Geoff kindly provided.
Warden Intern at Otmoor.