Rodent-eating MACHINES: One barn owl eats about 155 pocket gophers each year, with owlets eating five times that amount

摘要

Barn owls, described by some as "nothing but a beak and stomach," are among the most skilled rodent hunters in North America. Installing barn owl nesting boxes in orchards and vineyards has become a popular integrated pest management practice, but aneffective program involves more than just putting up a box. Design of the box, placement, number, and maintenance all influence roosting and rodent control success. Boxes provide both a place for barn owls to roost in the fall and a safe nesting spot toraise their family of owlets in the spring, said John Schuster, owner of Wild Wing Company, a northern California company that provides cavity nesting boxes for American kestrels, barn owls, screech owls, bluebirds, tree swallows, violet-green swallows,and wood ducks as well as avian pest traps. "The barn owls will provide you with 365 nights a year of 'thumping' your rodents in your fields," he said at a workshop on beneficial large organisms held last fall at The Dalles, Oregon.