Five New Hootin’ Homes

Published by Justine Apostolopoulos on 02/05/2025 02/06/2025

In January the Conservancy hosted a hands-on workshop building western screech owl nest boxes. Five participants joined our Stewardship Coordinator, Justine, at the Mayne Island Community Center for a successful and fun event. Each participant left with their very own nest box to put up around their island homes.

Currently, there is only one nesting pair of screech owls recorded on the island and we’re hoping that these additional boxes will help mitigate the issues that keep the population low: a lack of suitable nesting habitat and nesting competition from barred owls. Western screech owls in our region commonly nest in woodpecker cavities in wildlife trees (standing dead trees). If you have wildlife trees on your property that are safe to leave up (not going to fall on your house, in other words), consider keeping them around for the neighbours (chickadees, squirrels, owls, woodpeckers, raccoons and more!). It’s a great opportunity to support wildlife in your backyard and to learn more about them.

Interested in joining future workshops? Get in touch! Email Justine at stewardship@mayneconservancy.ca

Thanks to Carl Boehm from Gabriola Island for donating the cedar planks for the boxes and to all five participants whose enthusiasm in building these nesting boxes made for a fun day!