A blog to share barn owl and other wildlife and general news about the Retreat and its environment.
Stock dove investigating the barn owl box
15. March 2026, Wildlife
In the Spring, it is not only barn owls who are looking for large cavities which they can use for nesting.
Stock doves can also use such spaces, and it is not unusual for stock doves to take over barn owl nest boxes. It happened here in 2022 and each year the doves visit the box repeatedly with a view to taking it for nesting.
Even when the box is occupied by a roosting owl the doves are not scared off. They will perch on the entrance peering into the box, and on occasion they have entered the box even when there is an owl there. If the box is unoccupied when they they may enter to explore, with the risk that they may start nesting and deter the owls.
A female sparrowhawk visits the barn owl nest box
18. September 2024, Wildlife
A female sparrowhawk visits the barn owl nest box.
We consider it a barn owl nest box, but other species are interested in it too.
A female kestrel visits the barn owl nest box
16. March 2024, Wildlife
A female kestrel visits the barn owl nest box and peeks in.
While a barn owl is roosting in the box, a female kestrel explores, including peeking into the box.
Barn owls and kestrels can be serious adversaries. Kestrels may attack barn owls on the wing in an attempt to steal their prey, and sometimes that is successful. Sometimes they fight, including to the death of one of them, over rights to a nesting space.
