We live near a lagoon with a lot of birds, many migrating, also see hawks - think it's red shoulder, that sometimes land on telephone poles, but have never seen any owls. We live near the beach. A few years ago, I worked at an in-land hospital on the 3rd floor. It had recessed windows on the upper floors. A pair of barn owls raised 2 fledglings on the window sill. It was amazing that the little tykes didn't fall off the ledge, especially since the parents were gone frequently hunting for food. I was surprised to see them in such an environment - in the middle of a bustling city - and especially the place they chose to lay their clutch. Still trying to decide the best approach to keeping the damage down from the mole/vole diggers. I want to create a water-conserving front yard anyway, so the lawn isn't being watered - so perhaps that in itself may be a deterrant, however, in the back yard, my main concern is for my newly planted dwarf apple trees - they are doing so great, would hate to lose them now. Thanks for your thoughts. Bejay

Elly, is the term 'witches broom' a new one to you? I'm sure you've seen them, but didn't know what they were. They don't qualify for barred owl housing. (See image in the attached link.) Spinster, I heard barred owls many times last year. One would even land on the peaks of our roof and call away. THAT'S something that will make you jump right out of bed! Anyway, a witches' broom is a dense cluster of branches, seeming to rise from a central point. It is a mutation found on a wide number of woody plant species, and is caused by a genetic mutation, or by a mutative response different kinds of insects. They can be huge or very small. Some witches' brooms result in some interesting new plant cultivars. The ones found in conifers are often hunted and collected. Here is a link that might be useful:

Many of the birds you mention aren't cavity nesters, so a nest box wouldn't matter. Probably chickadees are the most likely. If you put up a box for chickadees, of course make sure it's protected from predators with a baffle on the post or pole, especially since you mention cats and racoons. The hole size is 1 1/8", small enough that house sparrows and starlings won't be able to enter. One thing I read is that chickadees might prefer a larger hole to start with, like 1 1/4", and then once they have established use of the box, you can put a 1 1/8" hole reducer on. Much depends on the habitat in your yard and in the surrounding area. Chickadees seem to like the nest box to be on the edge of a woody or shrubby area. A chickadee box might also attract house wrens, so I guess it depends on whether you want to potentially host them or not. You don't mention what state you live in, so I don't know if you have house wrens. Other suggestions for nest boxes could be wood ducks (since you live near water), or even screech owls, which could use the same box as wood ducks. Or, you could try putting up an Owl Shack in the fall. I've got two up, no luck so far with screech owls, but the woodpeckers sure like to drum on that nice resonant box! If you have many dogs and cats running around your neighborhood, then you might not get anything at all. If that is the case, then you might not want to try and attract wood ducks, because they have to jump out of the box to make their way to the water, and would be easy targets for cats.

Three years ago I built a screech owl nest box and put it in a maple about 15 feet above the ground. After a starling nest and two years of squirrels, a family of red morph screech owls have moved in. The tree is at the edge of a wooded area facing south toward a 20 acre area of open organic farm, some wooded area and open field. The fledglings can often be seen peaking out of the hole. I live in eastern Long Island NY.