Hi all. I've been very lucky in that a Tawny Owl box I erected a few years back now has been occupied by a pair of Tawny Owls. I believe right now the female is incubating the eggs.
However, I noticed a small hole halfway up the right-hand side of the box last week and today this hole is even larger (approximately the size of a 50p coin maybe), with some visible external marks around it. I suspect it is Jackdaws trying to get in and I’m worried that they might succeed if I leave it.
If I am able to get a piece of wood glued over the hole (I can do this quickly and easily) just to keep things safer for a while, replacing the box at the end of the year, is this sensible? My plan is literally to place a larger square piece of wood over the hole to make it more robust in the short term, that is all. There will be minimal noise and placing it all from the outside, so not even disturbing the nest at all.
Every night the female leaves the box briefly at dusk to go and find the male, presumably coming back a short time later, so my thinking is if I am to do a very quick repair, I could do it then? Or quietly do it during the day whilst she is in the box?
Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
I think the once a bird is beginning to build a nest, has already built it or incubating eggs you should leave well alone despite your best intentions; tawny owls, especially when they have nestlings can attack so be aware of that or their hefty talons could cause serious damage to you. Birds can also abandon nesting sites if they see "interference" and I know that you mean well to try implement the repair to the side of the box and are fully aware of carrying this out very quickly and efficiently, As you say, at the end of the season around October time it may be a good idea to reinforce the box, even adding wire mesh stapled in place as we did for the blue/great tit wooden nest boxes which were prone to Great Spotted Woodpecker predation. Good luck and hope you get some owlets in due course but once again, stay well away from the box if young are there as the tawny owls will attack humans if near their nesting site and they feel you are a threat !
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Regards, Hazel
Thanks Hazel, glad to get such a helpful response.
I shall leave her be. Thankfully, the Jackdaws have not seemingly been back to make the hole bigger and the chicks must almost be about ready to hatch now, so will keep my fingers crossed!
I strongly suspect a jackdaw would come off worse if it did get into an active tawny owl nest. I also suspect it didn't realise it was, if it was trying to make the access hole bigger.