I put up a nesting box hoping to get a Screech Owl, we had to remove it today to work on the tree that was severely damaged in the last storm.
I never saw any activity around the box, although the tree in back of our house and not easily seen.
Now I find there is a nest inside... is this an owl nest or did a squirrel take up in the box?
it's hard to see that there is a tunnel down into the box with a small round area toward the bottom.
I did not notice any droppings to help identify the "resident"
Here is the opening
We plan to rehang it later today, I'm not sure if I should clean it out or leave it be
any suggestions?
What say ye?
Owl, squirrel, or something else?
I'm not an expert but it looks like a House Sparrow nest to me. They build a tunnel like nest...but wait for an expert.
No kidding.... those little birds take up that much room?
I had no idea
I have had them build in a Bluebird box and they use the whole box and have a opening down at the bottom. I can't tell how big your box is so I could be wrong. Someone will come along though and ID for sure.
It's big... hubby built it from an owl box pattern he got from the local bird society.
It's about 10 inches wide and 18 inches tall with a 3 inch hole.
Even if it turns out not to be a House Sparrow, I think that's so funny those little things hog up so much space
dellrose,
I feel certain you nailed it, look what I found
http://www.sialis.org/hospbio.htm
That's what my owl box looks like :-)
Dove
Possibly a flying squirrels nest. Sure looks like the one found in my bluebird house.
We have gray squirrels everywhere, but I have never seen a flying squirrel.
They nest in big globs of leaves and grass at the top of trees, like in this photo
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/images/Pests/Pest870.jpg
I wish we has a flying squirrel or two that would be interesting.
I've decided to clean it out and give the owls another chance to find it.
I've removed a number of House Sparrow nests, and never saw any structuring at all, but just a very loose pile of straw, grass and whatever. No tunneling either, but only a minor indention at the top of the pile.
If they don't find an empty nesting box to take over I don't see how their nest can stand - one strong gust of wind and it looks like it would blow away
