Owl in Our Box

After waiting almost a year we have our first Eastern Screech Owl in the donated owl box here at work. Jeff Trotta approached me a while back and asked if his mother could buy an owl box and donate it to Green Cay. After working out the details Jeff came and attached the box with chains to a tree on the Chickee Island. Unfortuanately Ruth Trotta passed away recently but her memory is living on with its first resident owl.

This is the first bird I've seen in the owl box. We had some European Starlings hanging out nearby but they never nested there, as far as I know. After reading Cornell's info page on Eastern Screech Owl I was suprised to read that often starlings evict owls from their boxes. I know starlings are notorious for this behavior but screech owls will often eat songbirds, including starlings. Does that make any sense at all? I'm glad that our intended bird found a home and the starlings didn't take over. Now if it can just find a mate and stick around to raise some babies.

All photos provided by my friend Bill Kominksy.