The barn owl has been around for the last 26 million years and its importance to agriculture in California is just coming to the forefront. It is one of the most skillful hunters of rodents in North America. It does not have to see its prey to make a kill. Its face is a dish shape similar to our satellite dishes and the ears are asymmetrical so it can locate rodents such as gophers or mice rustling around for food under 16" tall grass, then swoop down and make the kill. Cornell University did a study putting a barn owl in a completely darkened room. When a rubber mouse was dragged by a thread, 99% of the time the barn owl hit the mouse. A live mouse was substituted for the rubber mouse with the same results. To sum up, the barn owl's silent flight coupled with the hearing ability to triangulate on the target like radar makes it a formidable rodent killing machine.
In 1997-98 a study of the barn owl diet here in California focused on what the barn owls were feeding their young during the eight week period from hatching to fledging. The study showed that 42% of their diet was pocket gopher, 30% voles (large field mice), 17% deer mice, 6% house mouse and 5% other prey.
One barn owl will eat on the average of 155 gophers per year or 53 pounds of gophers. If you had a mere 48 barn owls in your area, they would consume 7,440 gophers or 1.3 tons of gophers per year.
At Merced High School we are in our fifth year of manufacturing barn owl boxes from agricultural waste that was headed for a land fill. We have produced nearly 5000 barn owl boxes to date along with wood duck, kestrel/screech owl and bluebird boxes. All proceeds from our box sales are used for student scholarships and barn owl research such as the above diet study and banding research (over 1000 barn owls banded the last two years).
By putting up a barn owl box, you provide a place for the owls to roost when the leaves drop off the trees in the fall and a safe place to nest and raise their family of owlets (5 to 7 per box) in the spring. They, in turn, will provide you with 365 nights a year thumping of your rodents in your fields. They never call in sick or demand a raise, you don't have to pay workman's compensation or have to worry about any liability if they get injured on the job. The only maintenance you have to perform for the owls once the box is installed is to clean it out once a year. Do wear a dust mask when cleaning out the boxes and be sure to wash your hands when finished.
For box sales information or questions, please feel free to contact Steve Simmons at Merced High School 209-385-6470 7AM to 4pm weekdays.