How to Attract Owls to Your Backyard

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Owls are welcome neighbors: they eat many rodents. You can't call them in like feeder birds, but you can make your yard attractive.

Which owls visit yards?

In North America, the Eastern Screech-Owl (east of the Rockies), Western Screech-Owl, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, and Barn Owl are the species most often found near homes, depending on region.

Provide habitat

• Keep mature trees, including dead trees (snags) that are safe to leave, for roosting and nesting.
• Leave some areas of taller grass or brush, which supports rodents and insects owls eat.
• Reduce bright outdoor lighting at night.

Put up a nest box

Screech-owls and Barn Owls readily use boxes. A screech-owl box typically has an entrance around 3 inches and is mounted 10–30 feet high on a tree; Barn Owl boxes are much larger and suit open, rural land. Add a couple of inches of wood shavings (owls don't bring nesting material). See screech-owl nest boxes

Avoid rodent poison

Owls that eat poisoned rodents can be poisoned themselves. Use traps and exclusion instead of rodenticides.

Listen for them

Great Horned Owls hoot deeply ("hoo-h'HOO-hoo-hoo"); Barred Owls call "who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all"; screech-owls whinny and trill. See Identify Birds by Song. A trail camera near a nest box can capture night activity.

Never approach or disturb nesting owls, and don't use playback calls repeatedly.