Building Nests for Barn Owls in Austria

Photo by Philip Mackenzie

Once upon a time, I had an owl living in one of the trees in my back yard . From the bedroom window upstairs you could see the large nest. It was always exciting to a see the owl come home, its wings spread across the sky. I never saw the owl up close, but you could tell it was huge. It lived here for about 6 years. One day I realized the nest was gone. What happened? Did the storms blow it away? Had it found somewhere else to live? I'll always wonder. One owl that I find interesting is the Barn Owl. I love its heart shaped face but don't let that fool you. This bird can swallow its prey whole. You can find them all over the world but they're harder to find due to the lack of places to nest and rest. The Barn Owl Conservation Project in Austria is helping to provide man-made nests in hopes of saving their population. They even tell you how to build one on their website.