I have 3 screech-owl boxes on my Lansing property, all with cameras in them. All have been used, and for 4 years since installing them, we have been able to watch the owls raise their young. It's been a delight!
We are using a Blink camera, but there are others you could use. It's not necessary to have a camera, but without it you would get many times fewer the observations, as they probably only perch in the hole 5% of the time. And it will help you keep an eye out for other visitors, like squirrels, or starlings if you're in a more open area. Even if you don't get an owl, you could end up with something interesting, like a Wood Duck, or in my case, gray squirrels (hilarious to watch and the babies are adorable). 10/10 recommend Robyn Bailey From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Tony Henderson Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2026 12:21 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Are owl nest boxes helpful? I'm thinking of putting up a screen owl box in some nearby woods. Anyone have success with one? Kindly, Tony Henderson 225 Rachel Carson Way Ithaca, NY 14850 607-279-6964 cell -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Visit: http://LISTS.cornell.edu<http://lists.cornell.edu/> for more information Posting Address: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Archives: The Mail Archive: //www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]<https://%3ca%20href=>/maillist.html" class="hft-urls">https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]<mailto://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]>/maillist.html Sightings: Please submit your observations to eBird at http://www.ebird.org<http://www.ebird.org/>. -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Visit: http://LISTS.cornell.edu for more information Posting Address: [email protected] Archives: The Mail Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html Sightings: Please submit your observations to eBird at http://www.ebird.org. --
