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Submitted By
Jan Baudin
Abbeville, LA, United States
Description
The male eastern screech owl stays in the same spot in this southern cedar tree, while the female lays and incubates eggs (in adjacent wood duck box). This behavior is our first clue that there is an active screech owl nest, and it’s time to start monitoring!
Category
Eastern Screech Owl, Male
I have a pair of screech owls nesting in my box in my yard in SWFL. I don’t know if I should be doing a nest box check to be sure babies are healthy. Or, do I simply watch from my yard and hope all is well? If I look in box, will they abandon the babies? I have a night camera on the box and most evenings there is a lot of activity, so all appears well, but of course I don’t really know what is going on inside. Please advise
Hi Bev, This is all up to you- If you are interested in reporting to NestWatch, it’s perfectly fine to check on the nest as often as every 3-4 days. You can view our full Code of Conduct for monitoring nests here. The goal of NestWatch is only to report what’s happening in the nest that you are observing. Since you have a camera, you can also use this to report data if checking the box is not feasible or makes you uncomfortable. You can learn more about NestWatch here. We do caution that if you notice that the owls might be unhealthy or injured, please contact your local wildlife rehabilitator before acting. A certified wildlife rehabilitator is one of the few people that can legally handle and treat wild birds and will have the best advice for your situation.