PULLMAN, Wash. — Twelve orphaned baby barn owls rescued from two destroyed nests in Central Washington have a new home thanks to a pair of nesting boxes and a collaboration between Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and the Horticulture Center.
The owls, part of an influx of wildlife cases at WSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital this year following the closure of a regional rehabilitation center in Benton City, Washington, will reside in the nesting boxes, or hack boxes, until they are ready to fledge and hunt on their own. As opposed to raising the owls in an enclosure and then releasing them once fully grown, WSU wildlife veterinarian Dr. Marcie Logsdon said the nesting boxes simulate a more natural process of fledgling.
“They still don’t have parents teaching them, but if you put them in before they can fly, they start to associate that box as their home nest and they will eventually head out on their own, just like they would have in the wild,” said WSU wildlife veterinarian Dr. Marcie Logsdon. “They can continue returning to the nest box for food until they are successfully hunting on their own.”
In addition to meeting a critical wildlife need, the boxes are expected to address critical pest control needs at WSU’s Horticulture Center, where gophers, voles and mice can disturb young trees and plants. Barn owls can eat as many as four rodents in a night.
“From an orchard perspective, it’s biodiversity, sustainability and reducing the amount of chemicals we have to put into the environment, but from a university perspective, it offers a teachable experience to students or anyone else interested,” said Grant Glover, who installed the boxes and cares for the plants and trees at the Horticulture Center.
In addition to meeting a critical wildlife need, the boxes are expected to address critical pest control needs at WSU’s Horticulture Center, where gophers, voles and mice can disturb young trees and plants. Barn owls can eat as many as four rodents in a night.
“From an orchard perspective, it’s biodiversity, sustainability and reducing the amount of chemicals we have to put into the environment, but from a university perspective, it offers a teachable experience to students or anyone else interested,” said Grant Glover, who installed the boxes and cares for the plants and trees at the Horticulture Center.
— Josh Babcock, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University