As our thank you and delivery emails indicate, different products have different manufacturers and so ship at different times. For instance, our pole kits for our barn owls usually ship faster than our barn owl nest boxes—even a difference of several days can occur. UPS delivery email notifications can be a little confusing in that they may say that your delivery is complete—this only refers to the product they delivered that day, not to any other products still needing shipped. With each product, you will receive a new UPS tracking email letting you know projected date of delivery. 

Yes we do! Any orders large enough to warrant being put on a pallet can receive substantial discounts depending on how many units are ordered. We can fit from 10 to 22 Barn Owl Nest Boxes on a single pallet and discounts can range from $15 to $25 per unit. Moreover, the single unit shipping price drops from $35 to around $10 depending on your location. Best thing to do is write us at info@barnowlbox.com and place the words “Quantity Discount” in the subject line. You also can call 1-800-NESTBOX. We offer similar discounting on our Barn Owl Box Pole Kits. 

The answer is that barn owls are highly capable of finding potential nesting sites—they are on the lookout much of the year. The dark entrance hole is enough to grab their interest and so all you need to do is make sure the entrance hole is visible from nearby open areas where barn owls will pass through. Placing mulch in the box can be beneficial too—barn owls like to have a softer substrate than the hard floor of a nest box. Other than that, essentially it is “build it and they will come.” 

Our Screech Owl, Kestrel, Bluebird, Wren Houses, and Pole Kits all go out within one to four days. Our Barn Owl Boxes take longer to manufacture and therefore may ship between two and ten days after the order is placed.

We do not always have coupon codes available, however our coupon codes are most often sent out in our newsletters so it is a good idea to sign up for our newsletters on our website — they go out every month or so. Coupons  are also advertised in promotions on our Barn Owl Box Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/Barn-Owl-Box-Company-121089227325 so we invite you to follow our page and you will receive notifications of new postings that contain coupon codes.

You will see a lot of references to heights of 10, 12 or even greater heights. The truth is that barn owls will nest at 8’ quite comfortably. Our studies showed that boxes at this height had high rates of occupancy. Eight feet reduces the cost and labor involved yet satisfies the needs of the barn owls to feel protected.

We have seen barn owls nesting as little as ten feet apart and there are plenty of instances in which several pairs were found nesting in a single barn. To stay on the safe side, we would recommend separating boxes by 50 to 100 feet minimum.

You will occasionally hear that barn owl boxes need no bedding—that they use their own pellets for bedding. But this will not be enough to cover the floor by the time the eggs are laid. Always place 3-4 inches of garden mulch across the entire floor. This mulch should not be shredded, but be large pieced. Bark mulch made from pine, fir, or hardwood is best. Ace Hardware sells a product called Western Bark Mulch which is ideal. 

The best practice is to clean out any nest box that has been occupied after the breeding season. You simply remove the front, slide out the inner liner, dump it, and place more mulch inside. This will safely be done anywhere from September to November. However, since barn owls sometimes breed in the offseason, if you do encounter birds, eggs, or chicks at the time of cleaning, just put off cleaning until the next year. 

If you have not received a tracking number email, then your order is still being prepared for shipment. Tracking emails are not generated until our shipping carrier (UPS, Fedex, or USPS) actually picks up the package. However, once they do, the tracking number is automatically sent to the email address you provided when you ordered. However, always check your junk or spam folders in your email platform if you are expecting a tracking email because automatically sent emails often are blocked by firewalls. 

You will see a lot of references to heights of 10, 12 or even greater heights. The truth is that barn owls will nest at 8’ quite comfortably. Our studies showed that boxes at this height had high rates of occupancy. Eight feet reduces the cost and labor involved yet satisfies the needs of the barn owls to feel protected. 

We have seen barn owls nesting as little as ten feet apart and there are plenty of instances in which several pairs were found nesting in a single barn. To stay on the safe side, we would recommend separating boxes by 50 to 100 feet minimum. 

Since barn owls in most areas of North America begin nesting anywhere from January through April, the easiest answer is to get the boxes installed between December and early March. We have installed boxes in March in California that received high occupancy by April. But the fact is that the best time to put up a box is when you have time. No matter what time of year, barn owls will begin to see the box and become accustomed to it prior to breeding season. 

Numerous studies show that a density of one barn owl nest box for every 10 to 20 acres is ideal. These figures come from studies done in Malaysia and the United States.

You will occasionally hear that barn owl boxes need no bedding—that they use their own pellets for bedding. But this will not be enough to cover the floor by the time the eggs are laid. Always place 3-4 inches of garden mulch across the entire floor. This mulch should not be shredded, but be large pieced. Bark mulch made from pine, fir, or hardwood is best. Ace Hardware sells a product called Western Bark Mulch which is ideal. 

Often, people want to be as near the nest as possible to be able to hear and see their resident birds. Since barn owls are highly tolerant of human activity, the answer is that barn owls will often nest very near a house. We have photos of occupied boxes as little as thirty feet away from the house. During breeding season the birds can be very vocal at night, and when the chicks are nearly grown, they spend a lot of time near the entrance, begging for food. So, perhaps a distance of fifty feet minimum is a good compromise. 

The answer is no. We have impregnated the Pole Model Nest Box with bright white pigments in order to repel radiant heat and keep the nest box cool for the adults and young. Painting the box, even a light tan, would compromise this important function. 

Our patented design incorporates a number of innovations including heat-reflective pigments and highly efficient venting. Chicks annually fledge successfully in boxes in full sun in south Florida, Texas, and California—so, the answer is yes. The box stays near ambient temperature even in full sun. 

Yes. The birds do not mind some sway. Keep in mind that they frequently nest in trees, even on dead palm fronds that sway in the wind. 

The best practice is to clean out any nest box that has been occupied after the breeding season. You simply remove the front, slide out the inner liner, dump it, and place more mulch inside. This will safely be done anywhere from September to November. However, since barn owls sometimes breed in the offseason, if you do encounter birds, eggs, or chicks at the time of cleaning, just put off cleaning until the next year. 

Yes. We have never had a wind failure in our Pole Kits. The iron is quite strong. 

Our pole kit comes with a slightly larger-in-diameter base pipe that is four feet long. In most areas, you should be able to drive this section about two feet into the ground, tamp the soil around it, and then drop in the 8’ assembled piece that will hold the nest box in the air. It is a quick and easy install. However in areas of very rocky ground, digging a hole and filling it with cement may be the only solution.

Aggressive interactions between barn owls and other species such as screech owls or songbirds are quite rare. In any given environment, it is possible to mix all of the species that we offer nest boxes for. After all, all of these species coexist in many ecosystems and flourish together. 

The answer is that the adults that have successfully bred will remain year round. Every year after they have fledged, the young tend to disperse to other regions. Some may return in the spring, but many do not. Instead, first year birds from other areas migrate into your region. In this way, barn owl populations remain genetically diverse. 

We will be placing links to download installation directions for each of our products here. We will also be providing links to YouTube videos of how to install our products. 

Although barn owls will nest in a cavity facing any direction, there does seem to be a preference for easterly facing directions (NE, SE, or E). This is a thermoregulatory choice—boxes facing east receive warm morning sun but then face away from the southwest when the sun is hottest. But, again, they are know to nest in any direction.

As our thank you and delivery emails indicate, different products have different manufacturers and so ship at different times. For instance, our pole kits for our barn owls usually ship faster than our barn owl nest boxes—even a difference of several days can occur. UPS delivery email notifications can be a little confusing in that they may say that your delivery is complete—this only refers to the product they delivered that day, not to any other products still needing shipped. With each product, you will receive a new UPS tracking email letting you know the projected date of delivery. 

If you have not received a tracking number email, then your order is still being prepared for shipment. Tracking emails are not generated until our shipping carrier (UPS, Fedex, or USPS) actually picks up the package. However, once they do, the tracking number is automatically sent to the email address you provided when you ordered. However, always check your junk or spam folders in your email platform if you are expecting a tracking email because automatically sent emails often are blocked by firewalls. 

We do not always have coupon codes available, however our coupon codes are most often sent out in our newsletters so it is a good idea to sign up for our newsletters on our website — they go out every month or so. Coupons  are also advertised in promotions on our Barn Owl Box Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/Barn-Owl-Box-Company-121089227325 so we invite you to follow our page and you will receive notifications of new postings that contain coupon codes. Otherwise, we do not have coupon codes generally available. 

Our Screech Owl, Kestrel, Bluebird, Wren Houses, and Pole Kits all go out within one to four days. Our Barn Owl Boxes take longer to manufacture and therefore may ship between two and ten days after the order is placed.

Our Barn Owl Boxes, Pole Kits, Screech Owl and Kestrel Houses all ship by UPS. So you must give us a physical address to ship these products to. Our Bluebird and Wren Houses ship by USPS. 

Barn owl boxes shipping to CA, OR, WA, NV, and AZ ship out of Gardena, CA. Barn Owl Boxes shipping to the rest of the country ship out of Lake Mills, WI. Our Pole Kits all ship out of Stockton, CA. And our Screech Owl, Kestrel, Bluebird, and Wren Houses all ship out of Haltom City, TX. 

No, all of those locations are either manufacturers and warehouses and they are not set up to handle individual pick ups. Receiving by our shipping carriers is the easiest way. 

We offer flat rate shipping for all of our products and attempt to keep shipping prices as low as possible by obtaining competitive rates from our various carriers. Our Pole Kits and Barn Owl Boxes ship at $35 per unit and we absorb anything over that. Our Screech Owl and Kestrel Boxes ship for $15 and our Bluebird and Wren houses ship for $9 each. 

Yes we do! Any orders large enough to warrant being put on a pallet can receive substantial discounts depending on how many units are ordered. We can fit from 10 to 22 Barn Owl Nest Boxes on a single pallet and discounts can range from $15 to $25 per unit. Moreover, the single unit shipping price drops from $35 to around $10 depending on your location. Best thing to do is write us at info@barnowlbox.com and place the words “Quantity Discount” in the subject line. You also can call 1-800-NESTBOX. We offer similar discounting on our Barn Owl Box Pole Kits. 

Over the past two years, forest fires, hurricanes, Covid, and a work shortage have conspired to cause a scarcity of good plywood. And the prices have tripled in that time while the quality and availability has plummeted. We will begin offering the Wooden Box whenever these conditions improve. Right now, we do not see a lot of change.

The answer is that barn owls are highly capable of finding potential nesting sites—they are on the lookout much of the year. The dark entrance hole is enough to grab their interest and so all you need to do is make sure the entrance hole is visible from nearby open areas where barn owls will pass through. Placing mulch in the box can be beneficial too—barn owls like to have a softer substrate than the hard floor of a nest box. Other than that, essentially it is “build it and they will come.” 

Although we have had numerous boxes occupied within a day to a few days after installation, we have also seen boxes take a season or two to become occupied. This of course depends on the area you are in. Generally, in areas where barn owls are common, occupation rates of 60 to 90% can occur within the first year or two. 

Barn owls are almost exclusively hunters of nocturnal rodents and other small mammals. Their most common prey includes pocket gophers, voles (also known as meadow mice), cotton rats, marsh rice rats, white footed, deer, and house mice, and Norwegian and roof rats (also known as black rats.) 

Since barn owls are nocturnal and ground squirrels and chipmunks are out during the day, few of these animals are taken. Hawks are a better suppressor of diurnal rodents. 

Again, since barn owls are nocturnal and songbirds and chickens roost at night, there is little chance of predation on either. Besides, barn owls are dedicated rodent hunters, and chickens are way too large for them as prey. 

Occasionally, starlings, kestrels, doves, and screech owls may begin roosting or nesting inside a barn owl box. But when the barn owl arrives in search of a home, it quickly evicts the other birds.

Occasionally, wasps may nest in the space between the inner liner and the outer box. They tend not to harm the birds, and also are usually fairly non-aggressive. Since your interactions in the box should be kept to a minimum during breeding season, the best thing to do is just let them be until the birds have fledged. Honeybees (especially Africanized bees) present quite a danger to humans and the birds, however, we do not have a single instance of honey bees taking over one of our plastic nest boxes—perhaps because the plastic surface does not allow them to begin building their nest. Nonetheless, any sign of honeybees near or in a nest should result in exercising great caution and the proper county authorities should be called in. 

All of our products are guaranteed against any structural or functional failures for one year after purchase. 

Any products that arrive damaged or with any kind of functional defect are returned by our company to the manufacturer free of shipping cost and with a full refund. We do encourage our customers to avail themselves of the product information on our website to determine the applicability of our nest boxes in their area. However, we will also accept returns of products for any reason other than defects but in these cases ask the customer to pay the shipping. 

On the shipping carton your product arrives in will be a manufacturer or warehouse address. That would be the return address. Just send us an email prior to shipping anything back so we can make sure of the location to send it to. Email us for returns at info@barnowlbox.com