BARN OWL BOX
By Mark Browning - Tuesday, January 08, 2008
NEW PLASTIC BARN OWL BOX WILL HELP WITH
CONSERVATION AND INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT |
Did you know that a family of barn owls consumes over 3000 rodents per
year? |
(RapidPressRelease) Pittsburgh, PA January 7, 2008 - An
innovative new nest box for barn owls may enhance rodent control
programs and help conserve this large white owl around the world.
Designed by a leading owl researcher,
 the
nest box is made of molded plastic, is lightweight, easy to install, and
features a landing ledge, an entrance hole, a research window, and a
removable front. Mark Browning, a field researcher for the Pittsburgh
Zoo who conducted the first satellite telemetry study of the barn owl,
designed the box to provide farmers with a long-lasting, affordable
accessory to their pest management programs and to enhance barn owl
conservation efforts.
“The barn owl is being used for pest management in the vineyards of
California, sugar cane fields of Australia, dairy and crop farms of the
U.S., and the oil-palm plantations of South East Asia,” says Browning.
“Such enterprises report needing to use less poisons, and having less
crop damage as a result. The trouble is that wooden boxes are heavy,
labor intensive to build, and frequently need replaced.”
The Barn Owl Box Company offers two different models of the Barn Owl Box
and each provides a different method of mounting the box according to
your needs.
The Barn Model is the first owl box designed to fit within
the walls of either wooden or metal buildings. Modern metal barns—which
have many advantages over the old wooden barns--have accidentally become
one of the downfalls of the barn owl, which has declined in a number of
northern states in the U.S.
“Barn owls have always been associated with manmade structures,” says
Browning. “But as metal barns increasingly replace old wooden barns, the
owls lose prime nesting sites. This is one of the most limiting factors
for a large bird like the barn owl that requires a spacious cavity to
breed in.”
But the Barn Model satisfies both the needs of the farmer and the owl by
allowing the owls access to their box, but not the interior of the
building. Importantly, it also prevents pest species from entering the
barn. The owner cuts an opening in the side of the barn and attaches the
faceplate. An expanding rubber
 gasket
seals any gaps created by ribbing. On the interior of the building, the
nest box is secured to a steel mounting-bracket.
The Post Model:
Many agricultural enterprises erect their barn owl boxes on posts in
full sun. The problem is the heat that builds up in the interior. The
Post Model combines a number of innovative technologies to keep the box
near ambient temperatures even on the hottest of days. The use of
special polymers in the plastic, heat-reflective barriers, a double-box
system, and an efficient venting system create a box that stays close to
the temperature in the shade, helping ensure that the young will
survive. The Post Model is ideal for open field placement, and for large
enterprises that want to establish dense populations of barn owls.
 The
Barn Owl, twelve inches tall with a thirty-inch wingspan, sports a white
face, throat, and chest, and has golden wings. Known as the spirit owl,
ghost owl, or monkey-faced owl, this large predator is the widest-spread
land bird in the world, and ranges throughout the United States where it
prefers open habitat such as meadows, pastures, cultivated fields, and
wetlands. They have large broods for a raptor and often produce more
than one brood per year.
As farmers move further away from poisons and
take the integrated pest management approach, they are finding
that barn owls can help reduce crop damage while at the same time
reducing the need for poisons, resulting in less toxins entering the
ecosystem.
 “Barn
owls are prolific breeders and voracious hunters,” says Browning.
“A family of barn owls can consume thousands of rodents per year.
Putting up a box can produce a lot of benefits, not the least of which
is attracting these beautiful owls to your property.”
To order and to find out more about The Barn Owl Box, go to their
website at www.barnowlbox.com
or call 1-877-NESTBOX
(877-637-8369).
Media Samples
Are Provided Upon Request:
Press Contact: Mark Browning The Barn Owl Box Company 2544 Hobbs Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
marbro-99@comcast.net,
phone: 412.874.9403 |
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