New Bluebird House Resists Blackflies One of the most insidious invaders of bluebird nests is the blackfly, also known as the buffalo gnat. These bloodsucking insects prey upon any warm blooded host they can find, including birds and mammals (and humans). Almost 1800 species exist in the family Simuliidae; some are actually black, others can […]
White Plastic Bluebird House Proving Very Attractive to Bluebirds But Not to House Sparrows “I purchased four bluebird houses from you in early spring. After an easy setup on my property, I had renters within two weeks–three out of four nest boxes were occupied with bluebirds throughout the summer, producing multiple clutches. I highly recommend this […]
Kentucky Barn Owls The Barn Owl is on Kentucky’s list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need under their State Wildlife Action Plan and on their Heritage program’s list of species of special concern. In recent years, the state has been busy installing barn owl boxes on buildings, trees and poles in areas with suitable habitat. […]
Ohio Barn Owls Once very common in Ohio, barn owl populations dwindled since the 1950’s. Now the barn owl is making a dramatic comeback in the state, due to nest box programs being conducted by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. Since 1988 agency biologists have installed nest boxes on more than […]
Barn Owls in Illinois Illinois has been one of those northern states that saw dramatic declines in barn owls, and grassland species in general. Once covered with forest, then with prairie and small farms, much of Illinois’ prairie has been developed, its small farms have dwindled, and hay, wheat, and cattle enterprises have been replaced with […]
Barn Owls in Vermont Vermont’s barn owls have always been very rare, with perhaps a few breeding sites each season. As with many northern latitude states, the severe winters limit barn owl numbers, however, even after the state’s barn owls have been decimated by deep winter snows, young birds from more southern states will disperse […]
Barn Owls in North Carolina In addition to having its own populations of barn owls, North Carolina is an extremely important state for barn owls dispersing from the north. It is the first state after the high mountains that northern birds reach after traversing the mountain forests with dramatic flights and large expenditures of energy. Our satellite tracking […]
Barn Owls in Rhode Island The first barn owl was recorded in Rhode Island in 1938. From then into the 1950’s it became fairly common throughout the coastal lowlands. Since then, in the face of intense development in those same areas, the barn owl has been nearly extirpated on the mainland where only widely scattered […]
Barn Owls in Louisiana Louisiana harbors excellent populations of barn owls. High numbers exist in the southern counties where sugar cane, rice fields, and marshlands dominate, in the northeastern rice growing areas, and along the Mississippi, Red, and Archafalaya river basins. Not so good for barn owls are cotton, soy, and corn, as well as […]
Barn Owls in Oregon Distribution of the barn owl in Oregon is complex due to the presence of varied ecosystems. The Pacific Ocean moderates the coast and provides ample rainfall, and the Cascades Mountain Range that runs down through the western third divides the state. Generally, populations are very good in open areas west of […]
Barn Owls in Colorado Barn owl numbers are good in the prairies and grasslands of eastern Colorado and in the valleys and scrub lands of the western part of the state. They nest in cottonwoods, hay bales, riverbanks, culverts, old mines, and even excavate their own nesting burrows in sandstone cliffs. They do well near […]
Barn Owls in Kansas Kansas has abundant good habitat for barn owls including prairie, pasture, hayfields, river valleys, and scrublands, all with good supplies of food in the form of voles, mice, and kangaroo rats. Barn owls are present in every county, and anywhere they can find barns, outbuildings, abandoned houses, holes in cliffs, and […]
