Testimonials
Our first Owl Shack inhabitant has arrived! A beautiful screech owl, its face perfectly framed by the Owl Shack’s square entrance. Wow! We are ecstatic. We now have a resident owl to take out the field mice around here. It took less than two months for this voluntary occupancy. The owl shows its face each evening, and this morning “Owly” was observing from the shack entrance as it rained. The owl appeared to be perfectly dry, thanks to your Owl Shack design. For anyone looking to attract screech owls, your Owl Shack is the ticket. Your design is simply the best! It worked for us. Thanks also for the clear instructions on how and where to mount it properly.
We bought an Owl Shack from you and have had an owl occupying it. We named him Gray.
Just wanted to let you know that the Owl Shack I mounted in a tree in our front yard a couple of weeks ago is now occupied. I had forgotten we had purchased the Shack a couple of years ago until I recently discovered it in our garage. Fortunately, the instructions were inside the Shack. I haven’t been able to take any good photographs of our owl with my camera, but I’ll try to borrow a better camera and hopefully take some better pictures. Thanks very much.
Here’s a photo of our first brood of owls. There were 2 young raised. It was extremely exciting. Thank you so much for a great product!
We’re so thrilled that after 18 month we finally have our first owl inhabitant. He (or she?) is an Eastern Screech Owl that my 7 yr old named “Fozy.” We adore watching him sitting in the tree outside our kitchen window. We can even walk out on our back deck and look at him from about 15 feet away and he doesn’t seem to mind. He’s been visiting us for about two weeks. We suspect he may have another home too because he doesn’t come every day — although when he does come, he stays all day. It’s later winter here in Pennsylvania so we’re hoping we might luck into a little family of owls this spring. Regardless, we are so enjoying every chance we have now to watch him. I work from home and I have to admit that my productivity has declined since he’s arrived.
Just got my first owl today!
After ordering and putting up our Owl Shack last spring, today for the first time we have a screech owl in our Owl Shack! I cannot tell you how delighted and excited we are. We are bird lovers and watchers but have had only limited success with bird houses in our yard until now. We have a small 1/4-acre lot in a densely populated suburb in MA. We have tried so hard with various bird houses, and did once have a chickadee family, but that’s not a lot of activity for about 20 years of trying! My three favorite birds are the chickadee, the great blue heron, and…the screech owl. So I was very excited when I heard about your Owl Shacks from a fellow I met on a local bike trail. I stopped because he was staring at a tree next to the bike trail; I figured it must be a bird, and it turned out to be my first sighting of a screech owl in the wild! I explained that the screech owl was one of my favorite birds, and he told me that he had one of your Owl Shacks in his yard, which is not far from our house. He had had great success with it — I think he said an owl moved in nearly as soon as he put it up. When I got home, I immediately ordered one. We were very impressed when it arrived that there were clear instructions, along with great information in the FAQ on the web site. We followed everything the instructions carefully, including being so bold as to put the Shack close to the house where we could see it from inside our home. People were, shall I say, skeptical. I, however, was hopeful and ready to wait. Fast forward a few months to today. As I pulled in from a run in the woods, something caught my attention in my peripheral vision. Sure enough, it was an adorable screech owl perched in the square opening of the box, as cute as could be. He/she sat there sunning for about 20 minutes while I photographed him/her from the yard and then from inside our house. He/she tucked back down into the box when the wind picked up. I have attached photos of our sweet little owl. Thank you so much for making the owl houses available. Clearly you know what screech owls want and need—we are just overjoyed that a little guy found our Shack even in our densely populated area! We have had so much joy already from just this one sighting. Thanks again.
We had an owl briefly in our Owl Shack last year, but it didn’t stay and nest. But this year it came back and now its mate has been in the window of the box every day for the past 3 weeks. A few days ago the female (I think it’s the female anyways) started coming up to join him each evening just before dusk. Take care.
I ordered an Owl Shack from you this past spring and we finally trimmed our trees and hung it just two weeks ago…..and today we had a great little screech owl sitting at the opening! Success! We hung it high in an oak tree. Happy birding
Put up one of your owl houses in my backyard last November — didn’t get a resident last winter, but one just moved in this week! My husband and I are both so excited! Can’t wait to see if we get some babies in the spring! I shared these pictures with several of my co-workers, and several have expressed interested in purchasing a house. I’ve shared your website with them. Thank you!
I am mailing an order form and a check to you today for an order of an Owl Shack. This is a present for my father who is an avid bird feeder and watcher whose birthday is at the end of the month. I know that your normal turnaround is 3-4 week but anything that could be done to expedite the delivery would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to seeing the Owl Shack and hopefully an owl.
I put up my Owl Shack about 1 month ago. I was worried it was too low and was going to move it higher. I heard screech owls outside my window before I moved it and decided to wait and see if they were checking it out. Yesterday I was outside and looked up and saw an owl looking back at me from the door to the Shack. He did not mind me there. Just kept watching. I was so excited I ran to get my camera. We watched each other for a while and then he flew to the play structure in my yard. Then the second owl came up from the bottom of the Shack to sit in the door. I loved it. I got your name from someone in my Habitat Steward classes last fall. I emailed my owls pictures and several members of the class have asked for information about Owl Shacks. I named my owls Ozzie and Harriet. I hope they have a family and I can enjoy watching them grow.
Just took our first pic of Lovey (Thurston Owl’s wife) in our Owl Shack. Looks like she is fat and happy at 9am this Sunday morning, I just looked up and saw her perched there! We are so very excited and wanted you to know! My wife is over the moon!
This year we have twin babies. What fun!
I purchased an Owl Shack 2 years ago and my family has greatly enjoyed our resident owls! Thank you.
Cliff, I got two of your Owl Shacks several years ago at an organic gardeners meeting and put one in my neighbor’s yard and one in ours. We’ve had a lot of fun over the years watching our owls, but this year is an Owl-some! Here are some photos my husband took today of our owl family. Three owlets! Best,
This owl showed up the day of my wife’s studio show — and it was a hit for much of the day and helped with her sales. Many folks seemed serious about Owl Shacks, too! She seems unusually big — and continues to hang out here. We’ve never seen an owl stay in fall or winter. It’s a great delight. Thanks for helping to bring such enjoyment.
I ordered one of your houses this past summer. I installed it in a tree in my backyard. It sat empty, but on Monday a little fellow poked his head out! Almost gave me a heart attack. I have named him Ollie. I am wondering what their range is. I mean, how close to this owl house can I install another one? My neighbor down the street is having a rat problem. Thanks very much for your expertise and for the Owl Shack. I am very excited about my new “renter.”
Thank you Santa! All I wanted for Christmas was an owl to move into my Owl Shack and he did! We have named him Alford, er , OwlFord. He loves his Shack!
I am so excited that after 5 years of having our Owl Shack in our backyard with NO tenant that I looked up during the light of day and saw a beautiful screech owl in my Shack! I will send a picture as soon as I can get a good close up. I did want to ask because I thought it strange that it will sit for hours and I mean hours during the day, starting at 8am till 6pm in the entrance of the box and I can go up to the tree and it will stay there, sometimes he has dropped down into the box but for the most part it does not mind my being there. It watches me and my dogs, sometimes the eyes are open and sometimes not, but it is watching what I do and where I go. I’m just thrilled; I just wish I knew it was coming to visit because I would have had the box spiffed up! My neighbor across the street from me put up an Owl Shack a few months ago and within one month of having it she had an owl. Getting to see God’s creatures in nature for me is a LOVELY JOY! Thanks so much for the Owl Shack!
A fun & magical story from Asheville, North Carolina. My wife gave me an Owl Shack last Christmas. I put it up in February on a lovely giant white oak tree in our backyard, but it had been unoccupied since then. For Halloween, my 9-year-old son Noah and I decided (the day before) to make a costume. We had two cool-looking wood-scrap tree-branch rings that had been cut off a big tulip poplar we had to take down a few years ago. We put them together, and saw owl eyes! So we made an owl mask using the wood scraps, a plastic bin, and leaves glued on for feathers. The mask was so heavy we had to make shoulder straps out of gorilla tape so he could support it. The mask was quite a big hit at the school Halloween parade and trick-or-treating. The day after Halloween, I was thinking of where to put the mask, and I decided to put it in the covered woodpile, right under the white oak tree, so we could see it from the back door. THAT VERY EVENING our first screech own moved into the Owl Shack! My wife saw her in the doorway when she drove home after work. We haven’t named our rusty red owl yet. We call her a she because she is bigger than we imagined! But of course we don’t know for sure. Thanks for sharing your wonderful gift! We’ll email you if we get nestlings in the spring.
We have our first owl this year. I saw one of your Owl Shacks a few years ago. Quickly came home and ordered two. We live on about an acre and a half and back up to a creek. We moved one last year thinking we had it a little too close to the house/pool and perhaps too low. I have dogs too so we moved one to the back part of our property. We have this little sitting area back there. Night before last, we’re out enjoying the nice weather with the dogs. Right at dusk, which is so early now, the owls start calling. I said, it sounds like some of that is coming from the Owl Shack. Sure enough, we have our first little owl. We think we have them figured out. Enjoying our new friend!! Thanks for your great “shack.”
Went to the back of my 6 acres this afternoon up here In Battle Creek, MI to check on my Owl Shack, first time in about a month. I put it up this spring. I was shocked to see the front cover hanging down and the bottom board hanging too. I got the ladder out and took it down. The back board was shattered. I think it was a lightening strike! The owl house was up about 15 feet in a hickory tree and I used two nails. I think the owl house is repairable. I may need to get a cedar plank from the local lumber yard for the back board, but everything else is okay, just tore up, but I think I can nail it back together. I don’t think there were any owls in the house yet. I’ll have it fixed up in a couple of weeks and rehang and hopefully some owls will use it this winter. I think I will try a different tree, we have a lot of nice oaks on our property.
I got my Owl Shack last August and hung it up. It took awhile, but we finally got a resident owl this summer. He stayed around for a couple of weeks and then we didn’t see him much anymore. I’m happy to report that today we not only saw him, but he had captured and eaten a rat! We have decided to name him Archimedes, like the owl in the Disney film, The Sword in the Stone. Thanks for making a great product and making it in Texas!
We finally have an adorable screech owl that has moved into our Owl Shack. We’ve named him “Mr. B” after Mr. Bankwitz, our high school teacher and head of the science club, who inspired us with an owl watching field trip.
We wanted to share a picture of “Owlie” enjoying her Owl Shack on our front porch. She roosted in the vines nearby for many months and we gave up hope that she would notice your fine Shack. It was quite a surprise one morning to see her perched in it. She’s been coming back every morning and spending the day since late last Spring. So far, no owlets have appeared in the box, but we have seen some young owls in another part of our yard and are hopeful that some will appear in the box one of these days. Thanks for making the Shacks available. They make great gifts, too.
Just wanted to let you know that we only had our Owl Shack up for about 3 weeks before our owl arrived on Christmas morning! This really made Christmas special for myself and my kids — ages 2, 12, and 22! We named “her” — an assumption of course — “Merry”. Thank you so much!
We have owlets! We just wanted to share the news. Cigars for everyone!
This is the 3rd year we have had an owl visit our Owl Shack. We had the Owl Shack mounted and ready to go for almost 4 years before they caught on. Would love for you to share my pictures. Thanks.
I was guided to your web site by a friend. I am in a master naturalist group with him. I would love to have one of your Owl Shacks and will complete an order form.
I have had an occupied Owl Shack up for around 6 years and, until now, never had an owl during the summer months. I never have seen an owl in my Owl Shack after fledging in May, until around late Oct to Nov. I am trying to figure out what is going on here. I have had the same owl in the box every day for 2 weeks. Thanks.
I bought an Owl Shack from you sometime last winter, and tonight we had guests over. We had four large dogs running around and our first owl made its appearance! We will be getting another or a couple more from you soon. A BIG sincere THANKS TO YOU!
We purchased 2 Owl Shacks from you a few years ago. This season one Shack had 2 residents — one larger, fluffier bird of brown reddish hue and the other smaller with no brown but more gray colored. Thanks.
I’ve had one of your Owl Shacks for about 4 years. I love it! Owls and then babies every year so far! I want another one and will place an order. Warm regards.
Cliff, we had a successful nest this year.
If you know any Rice University graduates, they should have gotten a new Rice Magazine (#12). The inside back cover has a half page picture I took of a rufous morph screech owl with your Owl Shack showing very prominently.
Not sure if you remember me. I used to work for the GO TEXAN program and bought an Owl Shack for my mom and dad. Well, I recently bought my first home this past summer and my dad surprised me with my very own Owl Shack for Christmas. We hung it up and within three weeks we had a screech owl! I love seeing the owl each morning and evening as I come and go from home. Thank you so much for such a wonderful product!
My Owl Shack has attracted owls regularly.
We LOVE our Owl Shack. And, we have an owl who recently decided to occupy it. We named it Gray. I received the Shack in May for Mother’s Day and Gray came to live with us about three weeks ago. Please post our photo on your website! We’d love that!
Your Owl Shacks still work after all these years! I’m thinking I’ve had it up for 11 or 12 years. Except for last year in the drought, screech owls have occupied my Owl Shack every year.
For 3 straight hours, we watched our 2 baby owls prepared to fledge their nest. It was a National Geographic moment right in our backyard. The mama owl continued to fly back and forth in front of her babies. Not realizing owls were so social and misunderstood as nocturnal, our family watched for months. My son’s cub scout den had a bird watching meeting at our house one day. Call it good timing or good luck, but the Mama sat perched, watching the boys as they looked at her through their binoculars and even took pictures. Thanks for opening this wonderful window.
I’ve had owls nest in my suburban yard for the past 3 years but this is the first year with the Owl Shack. In the past I only saw 1 owlet but we have at least 3 this year. And last night I got my wish! At about 9:40 p.m. one of the two remaining owlets in the nest box leapt out of the box, flapping, and landed on the tree trunk! The tree w/ the box has a double trunk and it landed on the trunk w/o the box, about 7-8 foot jump down. It clung to the trunk for awhile then started walking (clawing) its way up the tree, supplemented by flapping. After awhile we couldn’t see it anymore and didn’t want to go outside to avoid stressing the birds (and possibly getting conked on the head, as well — that happened to me last year). Not clear if there’s one owlet still in or if it left during the night. A few friends are in the market for Owl Shacks now (for next year)! Thanks for a great product!
Well, I was right as I kept telling my next door neighbor. My owl, Oprah, came back and stayed for awhile. Then I didn’t see her for about 2 months, but finally she returned. I had a feeling as I kept watching the Owl Shack and told my neighbor that maybe she has eggs in there. Yesterday evening, I went out there at about 6:30pm while watering my plants and noticed something up in the Owl Shack. I kept looking at it as I walked around to the front of it. The bird was looking the other way as I walked by. I noticed feathers and realized that I was seeing a BABY OWL. FINALLY!!! I saw a BABY OWL in there!! First baby here. I bought my Owl Shack in 2007! It is a cute little thing. It turned its head towards me, saw me, and went down inside the box in a hurry. I’m hoping to take some picture of it, if I’m lucky. I have no idea how many are in there but I’ll let you know. Take care.
Just wanted to share some exciting news!! Our owls had babies. I suspected she had eggs, as we noticed another owl hanging out during the day and saw the owls fly in & out lately. Seems the male was guarding the eggs. Anyway, noticed the babies Friday. I new in my heart Billie Jean was a female!!! Very exciting stuff!! Our kids and all the neighbors have loved it!! The babies fledged this evening. Wowza. What a cool thing to see. We actually noticed this morning there were 3 babies. Then this evening, the first one fled. Amazing. Saw the mom all day watching them. Then, the second baby went and fell to the ground. I wanted to die!!! Then it was so cool to see the mom and dad come to the ground and guide it to another tree. The tree closest had a tree house, and we were so worried the baby wouldn’t make it up. But good ol’ Mother Nature found a way, and baby went up safely. What a cool thing to see. All of us were crying. Thanks for all your information!! We have been so happy to see this moment right in our backyard. I have some great pics!! Thanks.
My son bought me one of your Owl Shacks for Christmas and my husband hung it according to your specifications in early February. Two squirrels moved in and would drape themselves over the edge of the entrance for minutes at a time. I thought it was quite an expensive house to provide for the squirrels. In mid-March, I told my son how disappointed I was that the squirrels had occupied it. The NEXT day an owl was at the box entrance! After a few weeks of getting used to us, they would spend hours in broad daylight perched at the opening. We have been endlessly entertained. This past weekend, they vanished and we were so sad for 2 days. Then, a very fuzzy baby peeked out. What a surprise. S/he comes out twice a day, struggling up and sometimes falling back down rather loudly. Thanks for hours of sheer delight.
I love having my owls return to their Owl Shack every year and I love giving these as presents! This one is for my boss for his 50th birthday. Thanks so much.
I bought my first Owl Shack in 2008 or 2009. No owls my first year but families and babies ever since! The babies flew off Tuesday night which we think will be the last time we see them this year.
We have 2 Owl Shacks that the neighborhood put up in our little park along the green belt. We have a family of owls that live there and they have babies each year. I am placing an order and our hope is that one of those babies will decide to live in our Owl Shack when they grow up.
I bought two Owl Shacks from you around Christmas. I gave one as a gift. About a month ago I had a tree man install my house and he used your instructions. In less than two weeks we had an owl. Yea! We live on a large wooded lot in a residential neighborhood. It is great to watch her perched and snoozing. Our two and one-half year old granddaughter named her Mama Owl. Thanks!
We have had one of your Owl Shacks in one of our trees for more than a year, and it seems like it has almost always been occupied. Our resident owl was named “Sparkle Jewel” by our four-year-old daughter, and checking to see if she is sitting in her box is a highlight of every morning and evening. Thank you for helping make our yard such a joyous place!
I bought 2 Owl Shacks from you last year. One is occupied. I put the occupied house up in August ’10. We saw the owl in Oct. Then we did not see him at all from mid-Dec until end Feb. Now he is back. I wonder if he was there the whole time — just inactive? There is a lot of squirrel activity in this live oak tree — I thought that may have chased him away at first. Thanks.
We love our Owl Shack! Our buddy “Red” showed up in 2007 about 7 months after we put it up in the corner of our yard. Every spring, Red disappears and then reappears in September. I am guessing that it is a male as I have read that the female chooses the nest site. Thank you so much for making such a wonderful product.
I am so happy! As soon as it got down to 30 degrees, an owl moved in the Owl Shack. He looks so huge sitting in there. What a great Christmas present.
I sent you an order form and a check yesterday for two Owl Shacks. I was given one for a gift years ago and I can’t imagine life without our screech owls that have come and gone over the last three years. So thank you for the Owl Shack creation! These little creatures are beautiful and awe inspiring.
I bought myself an Owl Shack for a Christmas present in 2010. On April 4, 2011, ‘Duchess’ arrived. What a great experience. Thanks.
We finally have an owl in our Owl Shack. It has been over a year since we purchased it. It was so exciting to look up this morning and finally see an owl in the opening. God bless.
This is the third owl that has tried out our Owl Shack. He sat in the entrance of the Owl Shack for about 2 hours this afternoon. We have sure enjoyed our Owl Shacks.
I’m pretty sure this owl in the photograph is a new owl hanging out in our Owl Shack. The original owl looked much more silvery in color. I haven’t seen much of our original owl (Hootie) in the last month or so, but in the past few days I’ve seen a lot of this guy. Could it be that Hootie is a female and is inside the box with some eggs?
Finally, after about a year and a half, we have an owl. Wonder if it has something to do with the cold weather. I hope it is here to stay. I have named it “Omega” (not because I want it to be the end) because I belong to the Chi Omega Sorority (as do all the females in my family) and the owl is their symbol. I have tons of owls all over my house, but now I have a REAL one! Since I posted Omega’s picture on my Facebook page, I have had lots of inquiries where I got the owl house… you may be spending lots more time working in your garage! Thank you so much for creating something that gives so much joy.
I am proud to report the birth of two Eastern Screech Owlets to the female that claimed our Owl Shack last September. This is our first birth since the box was installed on our property in 2006. All parents are delighted and as soon as the young begin hanging out in the opening, we’ll take their picture. Special thanks to their uncle, Cliff Shackelford [who built the box].
A few years ago I bought one of your Owl Shacks and I was able to get a good picture of our owl perched in the opening of the owl house. We have had two families, I believe, and are expecting another in a month or so. We love our Owl Shack!
Finally, we have a resident in our Owl Shack! It’s a lovely Eastern Screech Owl we’ve named Willie, in honor of William Marsh Rice, founder of my husband’s alma mater. (I preferred Who Dat, in recognition of our son’s high school buddy Drew Brees and his New Orleans Saints, but I lost the argument). We’re really enjoying our new owl friend. Thanks so much!
I am sending in an order today. I put my work address on it since I don’t want the Owl Shack delivered to the house as it is a surprise for my wife for Christmas. I am excited about creating a home for owls in our backyard. We hear owls hanging out so hopefully they will find the Owl Shack.
We’ve been enjoying our Owl Shack for years, but the past two years have been the most productive: 4 owlets in 2010 and 5 in 2011. I should clarify that those were how many we saw at once. It was funny this year because we didn’t see much action in the house itself and were actually afraid that the squirrels had taken it over. Anyway, we have had SO much fun with these owls! Thanks for all you do.
You shipped two Owl Shacks to my daughter and her family. Within 48 hours the first Shack was occupied and less than a week later the second box had a resident. My granddaughter named the first owl Yertle (after the Dr. Seuss character) and the second one Bert. Thanks for all you do. A housewarming gift order is on its way.
We now have an owl in our front yard Owl Shack. Last evening I caught a lizard and put it in a box in front of the tree and at dusk another owl, not the one in the box, swooped down and grabbed the lizard. When I walked out the door the owl with the lizard flew off. Meanwhile there were other Screech Owls calling in the neighborhood. Very exciting!
These two baby owls in the photograph appeared this week (May 7). This is our 3rd set of babies over the last 3 years. It sure has been fun to have this Owl Shack.
We installed an Owl Shack and 12 days later I saw that it’s occupied. Wow, we are so excited. My dad an avid birdwatcher, although a bit frail, arrived from Scotland today and for the owl to appear the same day was amazing. Thanks.
Our owl has returned for the third year in a row, and we would like to submit the name “Owlberta” for her. We and all our neighbors have enjoyed watching her, and it has inspired some of our neighbors to order owl houses from you! We eagerly look forward to seeing her young in a few months. Thank you for providing us with so much enjoyment of nature, literally, in our own back yard.
I am so excited to be receiving one of your very unique Owl Shacks! No other on the market is like yours. Woods are my backyard, acres and acres, and I hear owls every day. I love owls and always have so I googled owl houses and found yours along with others but yours are the best! The large square opening lets it roost in the doorway so I can marvel at its beauty. I can’t wait to get it. Whooo knows, I may turn right around and order another! Thank you.
I gave my husband one of your Owl Shacks for Christmas and a week later we have a new resident. So exciting! Thanks!
An owl arrives around the first week in October and leaves in January. This owl, our first owl, is rarely seen in this area.
Sometime in the middle of April I kept hearing an owl call in the middle of the day, which I thought was odd since I usually only hear them in the evening and at night. I got to thinking maybe there was an owl in the Owl Shack. Two weeks ago about 8 pm I was sitting outside on the deck and happened to look up at the box and there she was! I jumped up and ran inside to get the binoculars. I looked at her, she looked at me, and when she decided I wasn’t going to be any danger to her she relaxed and just sat there and looked around until the sun went down and then she flew off. Now I see her during the day, sitting in the doorway, snoozing. I’m sure by now it is hot and stuffy in that box. Can’t wait to see the babies!
Our Owl Shack is mounted on a hackberry near the back corner of our house and overlooking our vegetable garden. Two little heads were peeking out. First I saw the parent sitting in the opening and then a wing flopped out. I thought the adult was preening its wing, but then it flew to the pecan behind a tree in the next yard. The wing was still hanging out, so I called Marshall to come see and soon a little head edged up more and more until finally it was about on the edge. We were across the yard on the patio and Marshall had his camera. Then here comes the second little head edging up, just barely peering over the edge. Both had hunkered down peeping over by the time Marshall could get a photo.
I ordered my wife’s Owl Shack three Christmases ago. Two Christmases ago, my son and I got around to mounting it in the red oak tree in the northwest corner of our back yard. Shortly after Christmas this year, my wife texted me one day to tell me we had an owl. She immediately named it Burt; it later occurred to me that it was a no-brainer to amend its name to “Burt Hootin’,” a tip of the cap to Texas Longhorn All America pitcher, former major league pitcher, and current Houston Astros pitching coach Burt Hooton — especially since we live in the Austin area, are both Texas Exes, and I am a high school baseball coach! We both love watching Burt basking in the opening of his house; checking to see if he (or she) is out is one of the first things we both do when we get up in the morning and when we get home in the afternoon. When weather permits, we sleep with our bedroom window open so we can listen to Burt’s calls during the night. Thanks so much — this has turned out to be one of the best gifts I’ve ever given my wife! Blessings,
We received an Owl Shack as a gift last year and put it up early this spring. I was afraid we had missed nesting season this year but only 3 weeks later, we had a resident! We watched the same [red morph] owl sitting in the entrance for several weeks and were even lucky enough to spot the [gray morph] male out hunting a couple of times in the evening. Then one morning a chick was sitting in the entrance! We eventually saw 3 chicks and saw both parents sitting in the oak tree watching over them. We’ve so enjoyed getting a close up view of our owl family and feel good about providing suitable habitat in our suburban Florida neighborhood. Thanks!
My sister bought me an Owl Shack 3 years ago for Christmas. We put it up in one of our pecan trees and watched and waited and waited and waited. I am very HAPPY to say that last October we noticed we had an owl. YIPPEE! It is gorgeous! I’ve named it “Izzy”. Last June, my best friend passed away very unexpectedly. When I first met her 22 years ago she collected owl figurines. Well, I have decided that Izzy is my friend coming back to visit. I hope you don’t think I am crazy — it helps me to not cry and be sad. It is so cool to talk to Izzy and take pictures — it is an amazing creature! We love our Owl Shack and Izzy. I am sending a check for 2 more Owl Shacks. Thanks again for such a great product! I have pictures of Izzy at work and everybody asks how he’s doing — it is very cool! Thanks again!
We put up our Owl Shack that we got from you in about March of 2008 and waited patiently. No owl came in 2008 or 2009. So during the recent holidays I had our son get a longer ladder and move the Shack to another tree near where it had been and a little higher. Again we waited patiently and, EUREKA, yesterday there she was snoozing in the doorway in the warm afternoon shade. I’m calling her Owlleta (after several women in my family named Leta) and, when her mate appears, he’ll be Owlfred (after my husband and his dad, Alfred). In the 1990’s we had a resident screech owl in the woods east of our house that we saw and heard frequently, but never knew exactly where it nested. After remodeling and building a shop in 1999, we haven’t seen one in our yard. We’re in great bird habitat and often hear screech owls as well as bigger owls. We located our Owl Shack in a wooded area southwest of our home where we can see it from our front windows. It only took about a month for Owlleta, a lovely grey owl, to find her home after we adjusted the placement slightly.
We purchased an Owl Shack last spring and were rewarded with an owl in late October. The morning we discovered him/her sitting in the window of the Shack was exciting as all get out…I almost fainted. Since then, Toby has settled in and has provided endless hours of joy. He doesn’t like cloudy or rainy weather and will stay in his Shack when the weather is poor. But when it’s sunny out, he’ll sit in the [entrance] all day long and soak up the rays while he sleeps. He’ll even shift his body along with the movement of the sun so he gets direct sunlight on his face…he’s a sun bum. Thank you so much for such a wonderful product! I wish we had more trees in the backyard so I could put up a few more. We love our Toby!!
At first, the Owl Shack was just a birthday present for Dad, but as soon as Otis, our resident Screech Owl, arrived and chose to make our Shack his home, we fell in love with these owls! Otis seems to recognize us when we go outside, and everyone is impressed that a real live owl is living in our own backyard. Mom showed pictures of him at work, and at least ten people ordered a Shack as a result. We look forward to seeing him every time twilight and dawn rolls around, and a common question floats around our house: “Is Otis outside yet?” We have never regretted ordering an Owl Shack, and look forward to putting another one up soon! Hopefully, Otis will soon have a friend across the yard!
My wife gave me an Owl Shack for my birthday 3 years ago. Reluctantly, I hung it on a tree in front of the house, thinking “of course we’ll never get an owl to nest in this strange box.” Now I can say it is a very touching and moving experience to have an owl visit and make our tree a home. This is our 3rd year of having an owl spend the winter in our yard and the first year to have 3 baby owls nesting in our owl box. It was magical to sit after dark in the yard and watch the trees come alive with owls feeding their babies. Your comment on your web site “keep your ladder handy” was very helpful — the smaller of the 3 baby owls landed twice in a coral bean shrub next to our front door. I had such an adrenaline rush trying to decide on what to do, that I could barely breathe. While I did not want to disturb nature, I was afraid that the baby owl was in great danger from cats as it was only 4′ off the ground. Finally I put the baby back into the owl box, hoping for the best. I was very relieved when I saw all 3 young ones high up in a tree one morning a few days later. I feel sad that they are gone now, but I learned a lot about the magic and the life that goes on in our 3 big trees in front of our house at night when we are asleep. Getting an owl house is very educational and fun, I am fortunate to be able to share this experience with our 5 year old boy, and our neighbors! I recommend it as one of the best gifts possible.
Well, I really had written-off getting an owl. We bought our owl shack over 4 years ago. I thought the squirrels had taken the Shack over and we would never get one. But today I happened to look up and there it was! I am so excited I cannot sit still! Do you mind telling me what type of owl you think it is because I want to be correct in the identification of our new family member!
It’s been a couple years, but finally we have an owl. I had sent you a note after we put the Shack up and got an approval from you that it should be a good location. It was a long time, but finally we have an owl. Here’s the link to my flicker site where I’ll be putting up photos of “Owlton” that is here in our backyard. A happy event for my wife’s birthday present of about two and a half years ago. Thanks!
We had 3 babies and they fledged this evening. I never had a shot at all 3 together but with our video camera I was able (with the infrared turned on) to see 3 sets of eyes in the Shack. I posted some photos on Facebook.
I just wanted to let you know that tonight I saw two baby owls in our owl house. Last year, we had only one. These have a little darker downy feathers, but there are two and they sit side by side in the opening of the house. What a joy our owl house has been for us.
Our owl, Galen, showed himself again after about 8 days of hunkering down. Now he/she is quite regular, out early in morning and just before sundown. Now, to our surprise, only 40 yards from Galen, and facing him/her, another screech owl has taken resident. They stare at each other in the mornings and evenings. These Owl Shacks sure do work! I was under the impression that I was lucky to get one, but once I did, I would not get another so close.
Our Owl Shack is occupied! Last spring we had a family with two owlets and now we have one roosting for the winter. Very cool!
You may remember that we purchased two Owl Shacks from you in the spring. We put them up in early summer. There has been some activity at night on and off through the summer and early fall, but tonight a gray morph has taken to the Shack….amazing!
We bought an Owl Shack after the newspaper article ran in the Austin American Statesman. We mounted it in our elm tree. Then the wait began. Finally, after 3 years, the owl arrived. We love the owl who we named Owlbama. After checking your website, I see that I now have to call it Owlbama II. What a treat it is to have the owl take up residence with us. Thank you so much.
Our Owl Shack has been up for at least 2 years and we FINALLY have an occupant! We’ve affectionately named our new screech owl “Horton” as in Horton, from the Dr. Seuss book “Horton hears a Who”. Horton really did hear a “who-who-ah-whoo, who-ah-whoo” this morning around 6:15am. Our 2 resident Great Horned Owls are also back for the winter! Hopefully Horton is better protected by having an Owl Shack to keep him safe from the 2 big birds. “Build it and they will come” (you just have to be patient)!
We bought one of your Owl Shacks in 2007 and finally saw an owl over the weekend [2010]. So cute! We may have missed more days, even though I look at the house often, but we think he was only there on Fri and Sat. From the look of the box, someone has been up there digging in the wood. He was not there yesterday or this morning. Do you think he will come back? Thanks a lot, we are excited!
I installed an Owl Shack on a telephone pole adjacent to our driveway. The best thing I did was make it easy to see from our upstairs bathroom window which allows us to check on the house several times a day (even more as we get older!). As a result, we see our little friend when he shows up, which has been every year (cooler months only) since we got the house ~4 yrs ago. What a nice surprise when we saw we had ‘guests’.
Two new owls born in our Owl Shack but they fledged last week. We have had seven owls born in this Shack in three years (one nesting period in March of each year).
I have mailed my order for one Owl Shack today with payment. If there is anyway to get my order in que, I would appreciate it. My wife’s birthday is fast approaching, and this is her gift. My son-in-law and daughter bought an Owl Shack from you and are big fans — with a resident owl. Thanks.
A friend just came into the office and said she had an owl in her Owl Shack. I had never even thought of such a thing although the sound or sight of any owl has always felt like a gift from God. Anyway, found your website and want one. Thanks.
Cliff, our son gave us an Owl Shack made by you in 2008. He’s been emailing you this past week with photos of the owl that appeared in our box a week ago. We’d like to name him Clifford! Cliff, for short. OK with you?
I just had to tell you that our owl returned just like you said she would around the middle of October. She is one of the joys of our lives. All my children who I gave an Owl Shack to last year are loving it. Did I tell you that our owl raised a family last year? What a cute ball of grey fluff those babies are.
My husband got me an Owl Shack for my birthday last year and we have very much enjoyed watching our screech owls raise a brood in it this spring. We referred some friends to you and within two weeks of receiving their Owl Shack, a screech owl has taken up residence in it. I would like to order another Owl Shack for my aunt. Thanks very much.
I received one of your Owl Shacks for a gift a couple of years ago. Periodically we have noticed owls in it, but not regularly. In the springtime last year, we thought we saw babies. This year, we have a full house! We have at least 3 babies. I’m guessing they’re about 3 weeks old and nearly ready to fledge. Several of my coworkers should be contacting you shortly as I posted your website with the pics on facebook. Thanks for all the fun!
I finally got what I waited so long for — a baby owl peering out at me in your handmade house. I can’t believe it. I have been like a mother hen watching hoping the jays and other birds would not invade the nest and now…I only hope they stay away. Lo and behold, this morning, he was sitting in the window of his house and too cute. Could have cared less about the dogs running around. Thanks so much for all your help.
I received my Owl Shack today and am so excited about putting it into my oak. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We had a pair of screech owls in a neighbor’s tree that raised three owlets last year. This year, they were routed by Northern Flickers which, in turn, were routed by a ‘thugging of starlings’. I hope that the pair will find the Shack soon and raise another brood. I will keep you apprised of any new tenants. Thanks again,
Here’s a photo of our Christmas Day owl.
Wanted to send you a photo of our owl. We put up one of your Owl Shacks in May and had an owl by the first week of October. We have really enjoyed seeing the owl every day. We’ve heard at least two owls in the yard at night, so we’re hoping they nest in the box this spring.
Just wanted to thank you again for sending my mother the Owl Shack in such a timely fashion. She did receive it in time for Christmas and already has it hanging in her backyard, anxiously awaiting the arrival of her new little friends. She said that it was handsomely made, well packed and seemed quite durable. Thank you again.
We have been extremely happy with the owls we have had during the past three years. Other than during the summer, a day seldom goes by that we don’t go to the window and see an owl.
They grow up so fast! Last night we got to watch as mom coaxed the little ones (who aren’t so little) to jump from their Owl Shack to a nearby branch. As soon as the first one made it, she checked on him, then moved back and the second owlet made the leap. Mom kept moving a little farther out of reach and the babies hopped and fluttered to follow her. I guess they’ll be hunting on their own in no time. It was really awesome to see.
This is our second year with an Owl Shack…last year we had three babies, this year two. This year we actually got to see the babies fledging. The parents were in the woods behind our house calling to them, and it was great fun to watch them take off. We saw the mother and/or father first on January 15; both babies fledged on June 11, one in the morning the other that night. We built a deck in our backyard in March and had our saw out under her tree…she just sat out there and watched. She was particularly interested on Sundays—would come out almost every Sunday afternoon around 3:00 or 4:00 and stay out until flight time. We think she likes the new deck. If we’re home, we’re on the deck watching the owls…we are the envy of the neighborhood!
Two or three years ago we purchased one of your owl houses and placed it in the backyard. We never saw any activity there, and pretty much forgot about it. When an article appeared in our newspaper about owl houses, we decided that we had not placed ours high enough, and my husband took the ladder out to move the box. With the first tug on the nails, my husband was startled by an owl erupting from the house and narrowly missing my husband’s head as he flew from the box. Guess the placement was all right after all! Since then, we have seen him fly once, and have heard him making little scratching sounds in his box at dusk. Today we had a real treat. We looked out at noon and saw him sitting calmly in the doorway of his box. We got the binoculars and were able to watch him for quite a while. He is sooo cute!! We are thrilled to have an owl living in our own backyard. Thank you for making this all possible.
I purchased an Owl Shack for my dad from you several years ago. Dad passed away in January and Memorial Day we were together with mom at their house and saw our first owl. This much to our surprise because we didn’t know dad had mounted the house. Dad’s birthday was the 4th of July — again we were all together swimming, etc and as the evening grew later our little owl came in and bantered back and forth talking with mom. She’d ask it a questions and it would answer. Not long afterwards, two more owls landed on the same branch and then a 4th appeared! I must say it was a great ending to the celebration of dad’s life! He would have been thrilled, bragging to everyone, and excited at watching the little family grow. I’m so glad I purchased this from you because mom feels it’s a gift from dad! Thanks again!
My neighbors already think I’m crazy so putting up a couple of Owl Shacks won’t raise eyebrows any higher. We had a brood a screech owls, maybe 5 or 6, in the yard a couple of weeks ago. We are hoping we can encourage some of them to stay.
We are so enjoying the Owl Shack we purchased from you last year. We now have a beautiful russet-feathered owl in the little house! I’m enclosing a check for 3 more Owl Shacks. These Shacks are going to my son, my aunt, and a friend who have all loved watching our owls. Many thanks.
We have been waiting for the first sighting of our baby owl and today we got a great view! In the 3 years that we have been getting a screech owl visitor over the winter, this is the first year that we’ve seen a baby. This one has no fear and loves to pose. I think we won’t have any problem getting certified as a backyard wildlife habitat. Last night, my husband was able to photograph the 3 baby owls. He spent the evening watching the parents feed them. Our family has really enjoyed watching the owls’ activities. The best time to watch them is after 3pm until dark.
Our owl is definitely here and comfortable. We have decided to name her April, because she came during the month of April. She makes the most marvelous purring sounds and loves her flight path that we cleared for her. All my friends are so excited.
…[we’ve had] two wonderful years with the Hooties and two batches of owlets…
We ordered an Owl Shack and my husband put it up by following your directions. One morning recently, much to our surprise, a cute little owl appeared in the owl house. We were like new parents, taking pictures and telling friends and neighbors. Our “Screech” would perch for sometime in the mornings, disappear, and perch again around dusk. Thanks.
It’s been about two years since I received my Owl Shack as a birthday gift. Our resident owl, Owla Fitzgerald, moved in less than a week later and I sent you some pictures back then. I just wanted to say that two years later I still get an unreasonable amount of joy every time I look out my window and see her there. She’s not here every day, and of course we go most of the summer without seeing her at all, but I think that makes us appreciate her all the more. Thanks again for what you do.
This will be a great gift for my parents and sister. They are avid backyard birdwatchers. They are also the type who “have everything” (we are blessed) so thank you for giving me a wonderful gift idea.
We’re thrilled to report that Whootie is the proud mother of Tutti and Frutti! They made their appearance Saturday night, just in time for Mother’s Day. They were wobbly little fluff balls at first but now they have their little ear tufts already—they grow up so fast, sigh. Many thanks again for making these wonderful owl homes. All the best wishes.
It took three years but we finally got screech owls to visit our Owl Shack. This photo shows the mother and her baby. Thanks for creating an inexpensive form of entertainment.
I am ordering 2 Owl Houses and both of them are Christmas presents. I know they will love these presents. Thanks.
Look! We have at least two juvenile eastern screech owls! I just happened to be outside awhile ago, replenishing hummingbird feeders, when I glanced over at the Owl Shack. We thought we’d heard some scratching lately coming from the box, and we were so hoping. Well, our hopes came true….”Oh, my goodness!” I squealed as soon as I spotted the little guy, then I RAN to the house. “James James James James!” I hollered as I dashed past the living room for my camera. “We have babies!” He followed me back outside and just smiled smiled smiled. “Isn’t that so cool?” he asked. I nodded. Aren’t they cute? There’s at least two. We just couldn’t be happier! …Well, unless we ever got our own purple martins. THAT would be yet another happy day!
I put an order in the mail for an Owl Shack as a Father’s Day gift. You should receive it soon. Thanks!
We have had a screech owl in our Owl Shack for the last 2 years. The Owl Shack is in our yard and can be viewed just outside our windows. We also have a conventional Wood Duck nest box in our yard that can also be viewed easily from within our house. I have noticed that during the cold winter months the owl seems to prefer to day-roost inside the Wood Duck nest box. However, as the weather warms she switches boxes to the Owl Shack. We thought you might find this interesting as it appears that the Owl Shack provides good ventilation during warmer weather.
We have had an owl in our Owl Shack continuously since October. We named him/her Charcoal. When he/she stayed until March we started looking for another but didn’t spot the mate until a couple of weeks ago, perched in another part of the tree. We are pretty sure the babies have hatched because they are acting very nervous. We recently had major hail damage to our roof and were scheduled to get a new one but thought better of disturbing the owls so postponed it until after fledging. We hope we don’t spring a leak between now and then but we can’t help it, we are so protective of our little friends. Thanks again for the great bird house — the start of a great connection with nature for us and our five year old, animal-loving daughter.
My mother gave me one of your Owl Shacks for my birthday and we now have an owl in our backyard. She is becoming quite the celebrity. We had an “owl party” the other night. Two of our neighbors and their four kids came over at dusk to see “Pearlie.” We literally had three 3-year olds and five 5-year olds and 6 adults watching her. Of course, the kids didn’t stay engaged for long and went inside to play after a short time. But we adults stayed out to watch her leave to hunt. We have received so much joy from having her and I want to say thank you! I’ve been surprised at how calm she is and how amazing it is to be able to watch a wild creature in your back yard and not have them run away. Again, thanks so much!
I liked the first Owl Shack so much that I’d like to order another. Our property is big and backs up to a hill and pastureland so I think we can support at least one other pair of owls. Thanks!
Here’s a picture of our latest family of baby owls – there are 2 here and I think there is 1 more down below.
What a joy our Owl Shack has been. After 5 days, we had a “rufous” move in and about 60 days later 3 babies. After fledging, mom and dad have moved “the herd” to a tree 20 yards farther away. Thanks. I am going to order 3 more Owl Shacks.
After many years of having an Owl Shack up in one of our trees, we noticed our first owl peeking its head out. We are excited! The squirrels will be upset.
Our friend did us a real favor when he gave us one of your Owl Shacks 4 years ago. We have had owls in it [seasonally] all 4 years. Two birds fledged each of the first 3 years, but we are not yet sure if there are babies this 4th year. I have given away about 200 prints of our owl and I wrote your web address on the back of each. We have ordered about 5 Owl Shacks for friends. We are thankful for you helping us have many hours of enjoyment.
I put up my Owl Shack, which was a gift from a friend, 2 months ago and got a tenant this past Sunday. He/she has spent a lot of time outside in plain view so it has been a delight to have as a new neighbor. I think before next spring I will put another one up in our backyard. Thanks for a great product. We are looking forward to spending lots of quality time with our owl.
I put up my two Owl Shacks about a week after I got them. So they have been up about two weeks at the most. Owls are in at least one of them already. I put the two up in the same tree. I live just a mile north of downtown. I thought I would let you know and I will send a picture if I can get a good one. Thanks.
Didn’t know just what address to write to give you our heartfelt thank you. Our owl, Little Lady, had been nesting in a hole in our 100 year old grapefruit tree for at least five years. The first time I saw her was while hanging a plant off a limb about ten feet up in the tree. I found myself eye to eye with her about five feet apart. I talked softly to her and she blinked those big eyes at me. Little Lady and her young have given us a lot of joy each year. We have pictures of most of them….even the one that fell to the ground before it could fly (it was coaxed into a bush where it survived). She would even come to the entrance most times when I whistled. Then last year we had to have the old tree removed due to hurricane potentials. We waited until after she and her brood were gone. We searched the web and bought one of your Owl Shacks and put it up about a month ago in a pine tree on the back of our lot. To our great joy we found her sitting in the entrance enjoying the sun and surveying “her yard” this morning. We have no doubt that she will once again entertain us with her young until they are grown and then disappear until next spring.
I wanted to tell you about our new owl! I bought my father an Owl Shack for Father’s Day last year. We put it up for him and he watched daily. Only the squirrels seemed interested and then in September, along came Hurricane Ike and knocked down the tree with the Owl Shack in it. Since Dad had no other suitable trees in his yard, he gave it back to me and now we have two Owl Shacks in the yard. Our owl, Merlin, already lives with us and has returned again this year, but just this morning I saw an owl in each Owl Shack! The new owl isn’t used to us yet and really doesn’t know what to think about the cats. I gave Dad naming rights and he chose Spooky because everything kind of spooks him at this point. And I’m saving up for another Shack because I have plenty of trees. Thanks for the great Owl Shacks and all the good information!
I purchased my Owl Shack owl house sometime in January. I placed it 22 feet high on one of the smallest oak trees on my property facing southwest. I wasn’t exactly happy where I placed it, considering there were some limbs below the box and behind the oak tree was covered in dense pines. I kept an eye out on the Owl Shack’s opening but no owl, after months went by I figured I wasn’t going to have any luck and I wasted my money. Finally in the middle of July I was walking around my property right at dusk, and was pretty close to the oak tree where the box was hanging, when I heard loud scratching sounds. I figured it was either a squirrel or the two doves I have seen in the tree before, it was neither. I got closer to the tree when I looked up and noticed 4 gray morph Eastern Screech-Owls. I couldn’t believe it considering it was mid-July and the temps were in the mid 90s. I carefully watched for the next 3 weeks. I now have one permanent resident in the Owl Shack (photo enclosed), I believe it’s a female because she was the largest of the 4 birds. My wife and I named her Gizmo, we look forward to watching her everyday with family and friends. I have read screech owl pairs mate for life and could live up to 10 years. Hopefully I will send you some pictures of baby owls in the near future! Thank you.
Hi! I just wanted to let you all know that the Owl Shack I bought from you was set up in a tree by a neighbor months ago. Well, this morning at 10:30 A.M., I went out there and noticed something on the side of the Shack, so I walked around to the front to see it better. I couldn’t believe my eyes and was so thrilled! A cute little owl sitting there looking down at me! I said, “Oh, Hello, Sweetest Pie, welcome to our neighborhood!” Three of my neighbors have cameras, but none of them are home right now. When I get picture of it, I will e-mail it to you. Right after my neighbor set it up in the tree, another neighbor asked me, “Does it come with an owl?” So, I explained to her that it is the same as when buying a birdhouse to set up so martins or whatever kind of birds would come to it. I was worried at first as I had that tree cut off at the top this past summer, but several limbs are growing out fast already. Will get back to you later. Take care and you all do come and see it.
Cliff, Here is the story of the arrival of our pet owl — Hedwig of Wisconsin. We recently received a phone call from our family in the suburbs of Chicago letting us know that an owl had appeared in their Owl Shack (a picture of that owl is nicely displayed on your web site as sent in by Bob Essak). It was a blizzardy day during a month where we received over 50 inches of snow which is very unusual for December in the upper mid-west. After the call, I immediately went to the window of our urban house in Milwaukee to check our Owl Shack which had sat empty for over a year. To our delight, an owl was there — it had appeared on the same day in Milwaukee as in Chicago about 90 miles away. Was it a coincidence that they appeared on the same day? Or did the blizzardy conditions cause the owls to find new shelter? We now share regular reports with our family in Chicago and compare notes about the owl’s activities. It is now early February, temperatures have dropped, and we’ve both noticed that the owl is spending more time in the entrance of the Owl Shack. Anyway, we all love our new “pet” and are delighted that it doesn’t need to be fed, walked, or incur large vet bills!
Cliff, I bought two Owl Shacks from you in the fall of ’06. I gave one of them to a friend for Christmas and we put it up sometime in January ’07. We checked on it periodically but never saw an owl. I figured it wasn’t in a very good spot and always had intentions of moving it somewhere else but just never got around to it. Then one day about two weeks ago I was working on the fence really close to it and we spotted an owl in the Owl Shack just watching me work!!! It has been there since then and it is so much fun to check on. I just hope it sticks around. We are still trying to come up with a name….one that everyone in the family can agree on….will let you know what it is as soon as we pick one so you can add it to your website.
Cliff, as a birthday gift for my wife, I bought one of your Owl Shack owl houses about a year and a half ago and immediately secured it on one of our old oaks in the very middle of the backyard. We waited patiently, knowing that one day we would celebrated the arrival of some wayward owl needing a place to stay. She arrived about two weeks ago. My wife has named her “Al”, short for Allison. She may have found her new home through an “apartment-locater” owl as it seemed that she was escorted here by an acquaintance; either that or she was being courted. For a short time we saw two owls on several occasions near the house. I can only guess that the two were somehow connected. Our yard has a nice stand of olds oaks back there with plenty of open space between Al’s house and any other structure. I have kept a bird bath clean for years just below the owl house tree and have many visitors daily; from birds to bees. It never runs dry. I believe the new owl will be very content here for as long as she cares to stay…thanks to you.
I want to thank you for the amount of joy and pleasure you have helped us achieve since a little screech owl moved into our Owl Shack about 6 weeks ago. The owls had visited our backyard all summer for the bird bath, and this inspired me to send off for an Owl Shack. Then one Saturday, late afternoon, I walked out the back door, looked up, and thought, Oh isn’t my husband sweet? He has put a little owl cut-out up in the owl house just to make me happy! Then I realized this was a real owl, and my happiness knew no bounds. Every morning and every evening we look for Ollie; we watch him (I don’t dare to hope it’s a “her,” because if we were to have little owls on the premises I would be too happy to survive) snooze in the sun, fluff up when it’s getting time to depart for the night, swoop to the ground to scoop up some bug or other, fly home in the early morning. What a round fluffy doll! Every day I think, he can’t possible stay, but even if he leaves right now, this feathered creature has given us so much happiness we’ll never forget it. And thank you so much for that.
My dad installed our Owl Shack in a tree in our suburban backyard. We had our first sighting and took photos on Easter morning, which was a wonderful Easter blessing! We enjoyed our observations all that week. Then we didn’t see much more until the owl made an appearance on Earth Day. And later while eating outside with friends at dusk, we observed an owl roosting in our tree a few feet from the box, and then swooping down into the neighbor’s yard and back up into their tree several times before flying into the Owl Shack, to the delight of our friends. Yesterday evening, an owl sat in the opening for quite a while, allowing me to get several photos before going back inside the box. We are anxious to see how many babies are in the nest! Thanks so much for making such great boxes so that we can see and enjoy our owl residents up close!
We are so excited that our Owl Shack owl house has a cute and very interesting tenant. We’re attaching pictures and we’ve named him/her “Owlbin” — after my husband’s grandfather Albin. We just love Owlbin and watch him/her every day that he/she is out sunning — which happens almost every day. A friend gave us the owl house about three years ago and we put it up right away. It was vacant for all that time until this past October — when Owlbin moved in. We were so excited the first day we saw him/her. We couldn’t believe our eyes. Most of the time, Owlbin sits undisturbed while we are in the backyard. If we get a little too close, though, he/she disappears down into his/her house. But he/she soon reappears when we go in our house. One of our pictures shows where the owl house is located. We have a good view of Owlbin from our dining table in our sun room. What a wonderful treat. But, we’re sorry to learn from reading articles on the internet, that he/she may vacate the house during the hottest part of the summer. And, it really does get hot here in Central Texas. Today, March 14th, it was 95 degrees here. Maybe Owlbin will just sit in his/her doorway on hot summer days.
So far, we have no idea if Owlbin has found a mate and maybe will have babies this year. Sometimes Owlbin looks very small and sometimes he/she looks much bigger. Today, he/she was sitting very tall. When we first noticed the size difference, we thought he/she had found a mate to move in. We have been very concerned about excess noise in our backyard from time to time. It’s necessary for us to blow our oak leaves and, of course, that blower makes a terrible noise. It’ll also be necessary to mow soon. We’ve blown the leaves already once this season and we need to do it again, but are hesitant to do so. Thanks for your nice web site. We enjoyed it. We’ll recommend it to friends and see if they’d like to purchase one of your owl houses.
From the blog of award-winning writer, Sheryl Smith-Rodgers: “I can’t believe it! Go get your camera!” James exclaimed while we were outside in the back yard earlier this afternoon. I swiveled around and looked up into the oaks…..an eastern screech owl! It found the new nesting box we put up a few months ago! I’m guessing it’s Al, Agatha’s mate. She nested in our other box earlier this year. What a wonderful sight! Cliff Shackelford, who hand builds Owl Shacks like ours, told me that’s what would likely happen: the male will find the nearby box and use it for roosting in the fall and winter.
In the meantime, James has been busy on a new project, well within Al’s sights. But the owl doesn’t mind our presence at all. In fact, I stood right under him to shoot my photos. He barely blinked at me. Sometimes the chickadees and titmice mob any owls they see roosting, but no one’s bothered him so far. Lucky for him.
UPDATE—I stepped outside around noon to check on the owl box in the oaks (our first owl box is attached to an abandoned utility pole). Sure enough, an owl was perched in the opening. As I walked closer, though, it stepped back and disappeared within the box.
Thinking back to last spring, at first the owl didn’t care if we stood underneath the box. Then it’d act skittish and disappear. Two distinctly different behaviors. Which led me to surmise that we had two owls using the box. Thus, I attributed Al as the laid-back, c’mon-over guy and Agatha as the nervous, go-away gal. They’ve both found the new box!
We have had screech owls living in a giant bay tree in our back yard for a few years now and thought we should give them a ‘proper’ house. We put up an Owl Shack in the fall and just recently noticed that it had an occupant. Very exciting!
Our owl that has been happily residing and entertaining us in our backyard for the past 6 months suddenly disappeared a couple weeks ago! We were brokenhearted. Much to my delight, yesterday afternoon I glanced up and noticed a familiar face staring out at me. She is back there again this morning!
After almost a year, “Owl Capone” moved into the Owl Shack owl box that my daughter gave me for Mother’s day last year. He/she had to run the squirrels off the box so he/she could move into his new “digs”. We are so happy to have our little gangster and only hope that he/she won’t start charging us for protection!
We have enjoyed our Owl Shack immensely again this year. Last May, Mr. and Mrs. Hootie had two babies. This year they had three! Thanks again for many wonderful moments spent watching our owls. They are the best — and second only to our first grandchild, born in February!
I’m finally a Grandma and I couldn’t be prouder. I think Baby Screech looks just like me, don’t you? Well, sort of. I’ve also included a photo of the proud parents, Mr. & Mrs. Screech.
Thought I’d share a photo of the “new generation” of Winston Churchowl descendants (we presume). You may remember I bought two Owl Shacks and put one in my and one in my neighbors’ yard. The latter is home to a nest of 3 Winston Churchowlets! We’ve had quite a time watching them and worrying about them (had to put them back in the Shack a couple of times—there is NOTHING cuter than a baby owl). Everyone on the street is so involved that it’s not unlike having a new family move to the neighborhood.
I was having a beer with a friend after work today and he told me about your Owl Shacks. He’s been having a hoot of a time watching his owl. My wife was a biology major and avid birder so I decided to purchase one for her for Christmas. If I mail a check and my order form tomorrow, will it get here in time? Thanks for doing what you do!
I’d like to let you know that we’ve listed Owl Shack as one of our Shopping Partners on the Houston Audubon web site and you’re also on our Holiday Gift Ideas page (for 2007).
Hi Cliff, I gave my friend an Owl Shack, and it was up only a couple of months before we looked up and saw Zeus, the first inhabitant. We had a wonderful time watching him. He would sun himself in the mornings on his “porch” and come out again in the evening just before dusk. Around 6 p.m., off he would fly for his nighttime prowl. He is very happy there — doesn’t seem spooked by the dogs’ commotion or people in the yard.
Finally, the owl we’ve been hearing for months and maybe the one that slammed into our window in October and was stunned for several minutes has moved in to our Owl Shack. As I mentioned back then, if an owl ever moved it we’d name it Slam. Can’t wait to go out and visit it everyday. Thanks for the pleasant diversion and the ability to view this typically private part of nature.
Cliff, Cliff, Cliff! We’ve got a screech owl visiting our Owl Shack owl box! I spotted one last night when I pointed a flashlight at the box. I was QUITE excited! My husband saw it as well.
Hello Cliff, This just in—we first saw our owl yesterday around 6:00 and again tonight. We have a very good view of him quite close out of our den window, but were totally unable to get a better photo from inside, and I didn’t want to scare him off. I had a wild hope a red morph might show up, as one had been in a neighbor’s box some years back (they moved and that box has been down since then). But I would have been thrilled by any color of owl, so this is quite special. Thanks for building such a swell home. Best,
Just wanted to let you know that Owlistare took up residence in “his” Owl Shack tonight. I was sitting on the patio with a friend at dusk and I saw a streaking movement out of the corner of my eye and heard a sound that I recognized as a bird landing on the “stoop” of the Owl Shack. Following close on his heels were a pair of mockingbirds who seemed pretty upset with him being in the neighborhood. Hopefully they’ll settle down and Owlistare can live in peace through the spring and summer.
We now have an owl in one of our houses! I’m ordering another owl house for my sister in Oklahoma.
We are very excited to report that Whootie has taken up residence in our Owl Shack (which we had installed about 6 weeks ago). We are completely smitten! Thanks so much for making these wonderful Owl Shacks. We’re hoping Whootie finds a mate and starts a family soon! When the jays harass her, she just retreats down into her Shack when the racket gets to be too much. Thanks again and best wishes.
It took about a year, but now our Owl Shack is occupied by Rowlph. We love it.
We want to share with you our owl Gonzo’s second brood of nestlings. Last year she had Huey, Douie and Louie, and this year she has had another set of triplets. We have named them Travis, Crockett, and Bowie. Again this year, it is like watching the Discovery Channel in the evenings on our deck, only live. Thanks again for our Owl Shack.
I just received your website from a friend and I am so excited about ordering an Owl Shack for my daughter-in-law’s birthday! Is there any possibility that I could get this by her birthdate which is in a couple of weeks? Just thought I would ask in case you happen to have one ready to go. If not, that’s OK as I’ll save it for her Christmas present. I’m putting my order form and check in the mail to you today. Thanks!
Our little guy “Hootie”, named after a stuffed animal I had as a child, took up residence in March a few weeks after our Owl Shack was mounted. My question is if he finds a mate, do we need a separate home for him or her? Thanks so much.
Our neighbors have an owl in one of your Owl Shacks and my kids have fallen in love with him so we’re placing an order for one.
I bought two Owl Shacks last year. And just last week our first owl moved in! Thank you so much. I’ll check out the website for friend and relative gifts!
Hello, I bought 2 Owl Shacks from you last summer; kept one and gave one to my Dad for Father’s Day. About 3 weeks ago, I got an owl! He is so cute…I look forward to seeing him every morning. I named him “Merlin”. I would like to order another Shack to give as a Christmas gift so I’ll mail you an order form with a check this week. Thanks.
I woke up yesterday morning and first thing let the dogs out to do their business and lo and behold, there was an owl sitting in the owl box just as pretty as you please. It kinda scared me at first as I had imagined one in there but never thought I would see the real thing. I took some pictures of him/her and am going to try to enclose one of them. I also watched last night when it came out of the box as the sun was going down and within no time, it was gone. Well, it was back this morning sitting right there again so I am hoping that is a good sign that it will stay. I got so excited when I saw the owl. It was just something I didn’t think would happen. My neighbors got just as excited.
Hey Cliff, wanted to let you know that after 10 months since we hung one of your Owl Shacks in our backyard in Pennsylvania, we finally had an owl take up residency this week. Your Owl Shack was a Christmas present from my sister in Texas. It was so cool to see the owl for the first time. It actually has been perched in the opening for most days, which enables us to watch our beautiful bird. Many thanks for making our Owl Shack.
Just wanted to let you know we have an owl in our Owl Shack. Our 12-year old daughter is beside herself. She is busy taking pictures to show all her friends. It is very exciting. We see the owl every evening and we have binoculars out every afternoon waiting for him to wake. Our daughter is having a bunch of friends over to see him this weekend. Thanks!!!
We are just beside ourselves with excitement over the owl family that has moved into our Owl Shack. Two days after we put it up our owls moved in. Now, here is a photo of the babies that we have seen for the first time today! Thought you might like to see these beautiful babies that call your “shack” home. Thanks for building such an inviting home for these fascinating birds.
My son gave me one of your owl houses for Christmas and we got it installed two weeks ago. Attached are a couple of pictures of the new resident that showed up this morning. Thanks for your terrific idea, we’re already getting lots of enjoyment from having it in our backyard.
I can’t believe this! I received one of your owl houses for my birthday. We put it up on a Tuesday and six days later I noticed we have an owl. He/She looks very comfortable and secure. I’m thrilled!!! We’ll name him/her (really, how can I tell?) when the kids get home from school this afternoon. I can’t remember when I’ve been this excited!!
I wanted to let you know I had followed all the directions carefully and had my brother put up our Owl Shack in the new house and yard about a year ago. I was beginning to doubt we would get an owl but we had heard and seen them many times. Our yard includes some large oaks and we have seen the screech owls coming out of the hollows in some of the trees. Well this week it is official! We have our first Owl Shack resident here. He/She has picked the Owl Shack over the oak hollows! Now if it becomes a pair we hope to see some babies soon. Thanks again.
A friend gave me one of your Owl Shacks for Christmas and within 10 days of hanging it in a big live oak in my backyard, we had an owl. This morning (May) I noticed 2 nestlings standing in the entrance. Keep up the good work.
I ordered an owl house from you 18 months ago but just put it up in the big live oak tree two weeks ago. And Hootie has moved in. I missed him a couple of days, but he is back today. What fun for us!
A couple of years ago we ordered and purchased an Owl Shack from you, and it was a success. A screech owl moved in after a few months and had several little owls. When it warmed up, the family moved out. Recently, we moved and would like to purchase a new Owl Shack.
I was thinking of putting up a second Owl Shack owl house near our other owl’s existing house. Well, I finally got it up about three weeks ago and had a surprise Christmas gift on Christmas Eve. Yea, a second owl moved in so that now both houses are occupied. The neighbors passing by are always enthralled and I’ve given several your website so they can order a Shack for their yard. Hope you had a nice Christmas and thanks for all your help.
Thanks a million for the Owl Shack! Our education staff at Sims Bayou Urban Nature Center has already placed it in a nifty spot near the bayou. We are eagerly awaiting tenants.
Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!! We have an owl in our Owl Shack! He showed up this morning after the rains, hung around all day and just now left to do his hunting for the evening. Thanks for such a great early Christmas present.
Just when I thought I was the only person with an empty Owl Shack, an Eastern Screech-Owl appeared yesterday, just over two years since I put it up. Yippee!!!
Cliff & Julie Shackelford, It took almost 13 months for Johnnie Owl to make residence in his new home. Johnnie is the talk of the neighborhood and he is very entertaining in the morning at breakfast and in the afternoon at the kitchen window.
Hi Shackelfords, a month ago I heard a screech owl outside in the night and the next morning looked at our house and “WHOOPEE!” we have a bird perched in the door of our Owl Shack. We think it may be a female, as its head almost scrapes the top of the opening as she sits. We keep a scope set up on the box now all the time. Our son was here today and would love for us to order him an Owl Shack. You are really doing a great service for us bird nuts! Thanks.
We saw three fuzzy baby owls tonight perched waiting for food at the opening of our Owl Shack. A parent swooped in (we missed this part) and is now at the opening of the Shack. Babies must be down inside. I have my camera in hand and will try to get some photos tonight or tomorrow to send you. How exciting!
Yee Haw! Cliff, our first resident of our Owl Shack was spotted today! Our Shack has been up almost 2 years!
Unlike many testimonials that I’ve read, it took almost a year for my owl to appear. From November of 2006 until now, I wasn’t having any luck. But boy, it was exciting. I called my wife at work and my daughter, who lives in North Carolina, so I could share the excitement.
We’ve had our Owl Shack up for nearly a year and finally, tonight, as I was pointing it out to my mother, I realized there was something gray in the opening. I could barely contain my excitement. I grabbed my camera and stealthily got as close as I dared. We are so excited and hope he/she stays. Thank you.
Eleven months after mounting one of your owl houses, we have our first inhabitant, a gray morph Eastern Screech-Owl. We have been spying on the creature from the house non-stop since its arrival, and even when we are near it outside, it doesn’t seem disturbed. We’ll name it soon; photos are attached. Thanks,
Just wanted to say, all those years of schools, graduate degrees and thousands of hours of late nights studying have paid off. After using your competitors’ owl boxes for five years with no results, not even a squirrel, I put up the Shackelford Super-X Screech-O-Matics and exactly one week later a screech owl has moved in. I want to be your agent and go nationwide. Even my neighbors are excited. These are magic and you ARE the man!
Thanks,
“Also, this past weekend Owl #2 showed up to occupy one of the other houses. Two weeks, two owls — COOL! The Love Shacks are working.”
My Owl Shack was up for 5 or 6 months on the south side of a big pecan, leaning slightly forward, about 15 feet up, with an open flyway to it, and lots of trees and bushes around. I feed lots of birds and, alas, rats and mice, but no owl. My heating repair guy showed up one very cold day and was unloading my new floor furnace and asked me “Is that an owl in the black box on the side of your tree?” It was not visible to me and I replied “No, I’ve had nothing but squirrels go in there.” So he said, “That squirrel has feathers.” It was, at last, a screech owl and, due to the cold, it was really puffed up. It left after the cold spell but I’ve had two more since. I check every day. I gave an Owl Shack to a lady two blocks south of me and she put it up and got an owl in two weeks. Still there after a month! I’ve really grown to love these little guys and happily my neighborhood has many. I can’t wait to see some young ones.
I had never seen a live owl close up until you installed our owl box. Needless to say, my wife and I were THRILLED when a screech owl took up residence in our back yard the first winter we had the box. Having just read a Harry Potter book, I couldn’t resist calling our owl “Hedwig,” after Harry’s companion. We experienced a wonderful, magical moment last winter when our owl was apparently joined by its mate — we woke up one morning to observe TWO screech owls on our back porch, balancing on a ceiling fan! The owl box made a perfect gift. I can’t tell you how often I’ve set up my laptop in the dining room just so I could watch our screech owl through the window while I worked.
My wife, Anita, and I are having great fun with our “gray morph” screech owl. For the last week, it has spent all day sitting in our Owl Shack and leaves just at dark — always back in the Shack’s “pulpit” at daylight! Anita penned this poem:
THE BLACK PULPIT
House was erected
he came and inspected
Decided to stay
if only for a day
On March 9th
What a sight!
We saw a screech
Just waiting to preach!
He has been there all day every day for a week now. Thanks again to you and Billy Arhos for introducing us to this fun. I am a 70 year old lifelong nature person. We were excited when Billy sent us an Owl Shack and two months later it had a very interesting owl (which I have never seen before). It sits there all day letting us enjoy it. I am ordering an Owl Shack for a friend in Gause, TX, and another one for us as a second Shack in our yard.
Well, I put the owl box up last Saturday morning and much to our surprise had renters the first thing Monday morning [2 days later!]. The owl likes being out early in the morning and right before sunset. I’ve been out of town most of the week so I just got photos yesterday. I’ll send them to you.
This is very cool. It’s something we look forward to each day. Thanks for hooking us up.
Looking out of my son’s bedroom window and seeing the little owl perched snoozing in the box for the first time, the children and I drew in our breaths and silently watched him for quite a while before excitement took hold and we rushed to tell everyone to come over and see “our owl”. Many evenings this winter we sat together by the window in the darkening room quietly watching the owl take its swooping glide out of the box to begin the night’s hunt. Having the owl box, visible from the children’s rooms, has been an enriching experience for our entire family. The whole owl box experience has truly been awe-inspiring. Thank you for making them!
My photographer friend is coming over to take some photos [of our owl]. [This owl] really dominates our world right now. In the morning the kids look at it to see how “fluffed up” it is. They use this to determine whether they need a jacket or not.
We are seriously talking about a bird house fundraiser at school. I’ll keep you posted and let you know how many we need. We might even take advance orders and that way only buy what we need. We’re thinking of doing bat boxes, owl boxes and some kind of other bird house.
Thanks again Owl Shack,
— FOLLOW UP —
Tonight we were all out in the yard around dusk and sure enough our yard owls flew in and one by one they went right to the box. It was so cool. It was also cool that we were out there at all to see it as usually we are inside at that time getting the three kids ready for bed. They wanted to eat outside and so we did and then just lingered in the yard longer than usual. Man, it was so cool. Is that a record for your owl boxes? Three days?? We are all so psyched. My husband actually made another box to put up in the back of the house.
Thanks so much!
It happened yesterday at about 7 AM. I opened the blinds to the backyard as I was getting ready to leave for work. And there he (she?) was! Sitting as big as you please in the doorway to our “Owl Shack” — but excuse me — we prefer “Owl House” in our neighborhood. I rousted my wife from her beauty sleep. We are so excited. I bought the owl house plus a second for my son and his bride for a gift. I put our house up in a big Live Oak tree in our backyard. I did it with love, putting in several handfuls of beautiful yellow leaves that had fallen off our Mexican Buckeye tree with the changing season. And then we waited. And waited. And fretted. Was the house high enough? With my 8 foot ladder, I was a little short of the recommended 10 feet. Was the house facing too close to north as was cautioned against with the north wind? It seemed to fit well there and our home is on the north side of the tree, hopefully blocking the wind. Was the house tilted too far forward? That’s the way the tree grew. And so we waited. But yesterday our patience was rewarded. My wife, always the creative and “original” thinker immediately named him “Hooty,” an unusual name for an Eastern Screech-Owl, I think. I suggested “Socrates,” but she’s the boss. He’s beautiful. Really red and spotted with big “ears”. Big — pretty much fills the opening to the house. And bold. Not bothered when I’m watering the plants outside, but keeps a close eye on me. He was standing in the opening both yesterday and today about 6 PM when I got home from work. We hope a good mate arrives soon. We haven’t been this excited in a good while. We helped our son put up his owl house some weeks ago. I’m not sure his was put up with as much love as ours was. No Mexican Buckeye leaves in the bottom of his house — just some careless handfuls of debris from his yard. He still has a few things to learn from his dad. But we hope he and his bride get their own Hooty soon, too. They better start checking. I’m better with nature than with the digital camera and computer. Thanks for the great experience! We also are enjoying your Hummingbirds of Texas book.
We are so excited! The Owl Shack owl house we installed in the spring has attracted its first visitor. So cute and tiny. My young daughter noticed him out the front window when we were playing in the play room. She looked up and got big eyes and said real quietly, “Look — In the owl house. There is something. It’s an owl.” I didn’t want to disturb him by going outside so I just shot this photo through the front door window. I figured he sought new shelter to get out of the crazy wind we’ve been having here for the past few days.
We feel so special — And doubly so for a screech owl because they always eluded me growing up when I went birdwatching with my parents. I was never with the person that saw/heard one. They were my nemesis. We’ve heard them in our neighborhood consistently over the years and we’ve seen them in owl houses or in neighbors trees around the block but we decided to put up an owl house this year and YAY!
We decided this place was the best one for the house but it is kinda close to our front walkway so he gets nervous and pops down inside when we walk out to the car or to get the mail/paper. I hope we don’t disturb him too much and he decides to stay for a while. We just love him and his cute (sharp) little feet.
After months of watching, waiting and whining, I had nearly given up getting an owl due to the small size of our lot and lack of suitable trees. Our tree service then butchered my Live Oak tree and left nothing but the canopy in the top. They moved the Owl Shack owl house up a bit higher and “Voila” I got an owl within days!! A beautful owl… He sits in the opening a lot and watches us carefully, but doesn’t seem affected by admiring neighbors, husband watering plants or feeding birds. Thank you Cliff and Julie. We love our owl…
I received my two owl houses around Christmas, one for my yard and one for my parents. Yesterday our new buddy, Otto, made his debut. I was like a kid on Christmas—waking my wife up to tell her “we’ve got an owl!” He now joins Howard the Roadrunner who likes to roost in a tree about 20 feet away from him. Just thought I would drop a line and tell you of our success—only two months wait—it was worth it.
Well, the person who got an owl tenant the first day he put out his owl house beat me by a little, but not much. I put mine up the week I got it and got an owl a few days later. Thank you again for a fine product. And my tenant thanks you. Regards,
Thank you for sending this Owl Shack to my sister [in Pennsylvania]. I bought one from you in Nov. Two weeks later we had our resident owl. Great fun! Thanks.
Well, the person who got an owl tenant the first day he put out his owl house beat me by a little, but not much. I put mine up the week I got it and got an owl a few days later. Thank you again for a fine product. And my tenant thanks you. Regards,
I put my owl box up on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and much to my pleasant surprise I had a resident by 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning. VERY EXCITING!!!
After we put up the Owl Shack we waited for about three months, watching the box everyday in the evenings, before we gave up and stopped watching the box religiously. About a month after that I remember thinking, “our owl already has a roost that it likes better”; I then noticed scratch marks on the bottom edge of the opening to the Shack. After going on a family walk that same evening, we came back and there was an owl sitting in the Owl Shack staring at us! I was so excited I emailed just about everyone I know. Now we watch him every evening.
I’m a student at [a small campus]. One of the staff here has one of your owl houses with an owl resident. I got the okay from maintenance to put up one of your owl houses. I’m doing a fund raiser among students to help pay for it. Thanks.
An adult screech owl magically appeared about a month ago. It was so exciting to see it stare right back at us as we approached the tree for a closer look. Then just last week, a baby owl appeared. And a day later a second baby appeared. Then on the third day, the third baby peered over the opening of our owl house. We are in wonder of these amazing birds. Thank you for making our Owl Shack owl house. Nature is such a simple joy that really touches us deeply. Amazing stuff.
I thought I had wasted my money because I didn’t see how an owl could find the Owl Shack that was put up a month ago. Was I surprised! Looking out my window today I saw a screech owl nestled in the opening, warm and dry. Such a thrill.
At your suggestion I went by [one of your retailers] and bought an Owl Shack. I put it up and got a screech owl eight days later. I knew that there were owls in the area, but never knew they would find the Owl Shack so quickly.
The kids gave my husband one of your owl houses as a gift. We’ve had it up in our tree and now we’re proud to announce that we finally have a resident. Introducing Gravy Blue Bueide. The kids named him. Isn’t he cute? We’ll send a better picture taken with our good camera. We’re so exicted!
My father had great luck with the owl house I gave him for his birthday. Within a week, an owl had moved in! After about 4-5 days, though, the owl left and hasn’t been back. Is that pretty common? Any ideas what might have happened? Thanks. No owl yet in my own owl house, but it’s still early.
A friend put up my new Owl Shack on a Friday afternoon and it rained that night. The screech owl was there to our unbelieving eyes the very next morning! The other birds were madder than heck and stormed the Owl Shack. I’ve never seen such a ruckus! But the owl was safe and sound as it dropped down into the Shack until the mobbing birds departed. I had a friend over for coffee who said that the owl was her totem. “Owly” came out for all to see. So I now have two more Owl Shack orders to place for friends. Thanks, Owl Shack.
We hung our owl house a week or so after we received it, and within ten days had a tenant. We have named it “Owl Jolson”. Owl spends much of the day perched at the opening of the box, where we can observe him from our deck. Thanks, Cliff.
We love our owl! He moved in three days after the owl house went up. The thrill of the morning is running downstairs to see him out there lording over his domain. He is gorgeous and very tolerant of us taking his photo and even the dog that can be very noisy! Thanks for the entertainment!
Last winter we gave ourselves and our two grown sons Owl Shack owl houses. Our sons were only moderately excited until a few weeks later when a screech owl adopted each of them. Now the owls have become members of their families and we get frequent updates about their adventures. Sadly, we are still waiting for an owl to adopt us.
Dear Mr. Shackelford, we love owls! Owl Shacks are such a great idea. I am enclosing a check for 3 of them. Thanks,
Here is an interesting observation for you. The other day in a strong wind storm, one of my two owl houses blew down, which I find surprising given the heavy duty nails I used. Anyway, the owl just sat on a branch and after about 30 minutes, I thought, what the heck, I’ll put it up for him again since he was not going to the other two houses that are up. He sat and watched me put it back up and has gone right back to using it. Anyway, he is back home happy as a clam and the star of the neighborhood.
I bought two Owl Shacks at an Organic Gardener meeting. The one we hung at our neighbors’ home was “leased” today! Everyone on the street from age 6 to age 78 is delighted! We’ve all been out watching this fabulous creature all day. Thank you! This is a wonderful experience. I’ll let you know if we get a tenant in the other Shack.
I LOVE having my owl box in my backyard because it gives me something to look forward to every day. I love getting up out of bed to see if the owl is in the box. It also is the first thing that I showed visitors when they would come to the house. It has inspired others to want owl boxes in their back yard like my sister in Brenham and her friends all the way up in Ohio.
I love the Owl Shack. It works very well. It has been heavily used and is well worn. Mr./Mrs. Owl move in around mid-late October and will occupy the box even up to the first of May if the weather is not too hot. I like having the critter around and I think it likes having me around as well as I keep the squirrels at bay. I can work/piddle in the back and very near the owl box and unless I get real close it does not seem to bother it. But for sure I am always aware that I am being watched by eyes behind the thinnest of slits.
We put up one of your owl houses. We were spending the week working on our gardens. I was standing at our living room window thinking I needed to cut back some branches to open up the view of the owl house when I noticed a screech owl perched on the front porch of the owl house! Just like magic!! So we named him Hoodini. We are soooooo excited! Thanks for making such an effective owl house. And then this past week, my 91-year-old father was in town for a visit, and one of the highlights was him conversing with Hoodini. That moment alone is worth 10-times the price of the owl house. Wonderful and magical stuff. Thank you!
We have a screech owl that seems to be roosting in a column on our front porch. He appeared during an ice storm, can disappear into the column (it’s a square brick column) and has been there most days most of the time since then. I found your web site and see that you guys are busy building boxes. I would like to order one. He has tolerated our foot traffic on the front porch. And it’s pretty cool having him there. We had neighbors who had two owl boxes (and a red-phase Screech Owl!) but they’ve moved and the current owners must have taken down the boxes. I know one will find our box once we get it. Thanks,
Early in the morning, February 8th, my husband and I both heard [an interesting bird vocalization] from the backyard. We had been waiting and hoping for a new feathered family member and finally confirmed the occupant tonight! I looked up at the Owl Shack astonished to see this beautiful owl appear in the opening. We hung the Owl Shack in our large oak tree and realized that because it was eye level to anyone on our deck we needed to move it up about 10 more feet. Within a week of moving the Shack higher, our new friend appeared! Thank you so much for creating the Owl Shacks. We can’t wait to show our friends and neighbors!
Some friends gave me an Owl Shack as a gift. It was mounted in a tree next to my deck, about six feet from my bedroom door. Thirteen hours later, my Owl Shack had a resident! Looking out the backdoor glass, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Since that door is so near the Owl Shack, I used another door to walk out on the deck and get an even closer view. I was thrilled and quite surprised to confirm there was indeed an occupant-a gorgeous owl! Over the next several weeks, the owl was content to have tree-side visitors and was disturbed by only one thing. It must be camera shy; the presence of a camera caused her to quickly drop to the bottom of the Shack. Well, maybe next year!
[Owl Shack note: This 13-hour turnaround is clearly the record that will be very tough to beat!]
We love birds and enjoy watching them, so naturally we have feeders and nest boxes but nothing has given us more enjoyment than our owl box. Every winter since we put it up three years ago we’ve had resident screech owls and every spring we’ve watched owlets fledge. We go to sleep at night listening to their lovely calls. The box is sturdy and requires nothing on our part beyond the initial installation; no cleaning or repairs.
I live near the beach in Florida and have seen owls flying around the neighborhood. In fact, just 20 minutes ago we had a little visitor on our fence. I’ve attached a photo. I think it’s an Eastern Screech Owl? Anyways, I started to research owl houses and found your site. My 2 1/2 year old daughter didn’t get to see this owl, so I’d like to encourage them onto our property. Please let me know what the time frame is for receiving an owl house. Much thanks,
New addition to the Brown’s family! We have a new friend, an Eastern Screech-Owl. We put up an Owl Shack one afternoon and found this little guy perched at the entrance two days later. It must have been waiting for me to put it up because it is cold and windy. We lost our two Yorkies last year and my wife has seriously adopted our owl (aka JB) which makes for a happy Brown house.
Count us in the crowd of happy landlords. “Ezekial” moved into his new house about 3-4 weeks after we put it up last month. We couldn’t be happier. I’m really glad we took the time to place it using your guidelines, esp. so that it could be seen easily from the window. It’s pretty close to our house and only 10 feet up, but “Zeke” seems really laid-back and not easily perturbed. Thanks again,
We get immense enjoyment from our Owl Shack — well, actually from Powell the owl. Purchased in December ’03, our first owl, Powell, appeared on March 5, 2005. In spite of what our Owl Shack directions say, our owl likes the Shack in the spring months — roosting most of the day, clearly visible. The same owl, we think, has now returned — March 5, 2006. Friends who have never looked at a bird before are at a loss for words when they see Powell with binoculars.
Thanks, Owl Shack.
Thought you might like to know that another one of your houses has brought in a screech owl to a happy family. We bought two Owl Shacks and put both up in pecan trees. One in the back yard, one in the front. The owl showed up yesterday, has been in both. Seems pretty happy. Thanks,