WoodlinkOWL/Kestrel Screech House, 20"H

I bought this for the wife as a Christmas present and installed it about 14' up on an oak tree overlooking a small clearing bordered by our house and woods. Being only about 30' from the back of our house, I was concerned that it might be too close for owl/kestrel comfort. Also, knowing that it can sometimes take years before a box will be inhabited, we were resigned to the possibility that it might stay vacant for quite a while. However, a couple days ago, we had a wonderful surprise seeing that an owl has taken up residence!!! It's a Western or Eastern Screech Owl - we're in Central Texas, so not 100% sure which. It's late in the season (late May), so we aren't sure what the situation is inside and whether or not there are owlets. But the fact that the owl seems to be spending almost all of its time in the box, we are hopeful that it means there are youngsters. Long story short -- it works!

I bought this for my wife for Xmas and looked through hundreds of reviews of various owl houses. Most reviews discussed how beautiful the owl houses looked and how they hoped they would get an owl resident soon. Many of the reviews on this house said they had owls. I don't really care how the house looks to a human; I only care how it looks to an owl. I can confirm that an Eastern Screech Owl moved in within a couple weeks after I put it up. I placed it in a South-facing side of a tree (as one site recommended) maybe 15 feet above the ground.The owl-house itself is cedar and a bag of wood chip bedding is included. The included screws seemed too short to secure it to a tree, so I used some longer (3-inch) deck screws.

My wife and I noticed Owls in our evergreen tree for a few days. We decided to build a Screech Owl house, but when I checked the price of the cedar, I decided to just buy this one. Boy, am I glad I did! It is very well made and attractive up in the tree. I placed it approx. 11' off of the ground and mounted it to a main trunk off-shoot. We put it up on Monday and now on Thursday night, we are watching the Screech Owl pair flying in and out of the house.It is refreshing to see a little bit of the country in the middle of a neighborhood.We also have had a rat problem in this area for years now. I have personally found out how much rats like to chew up car wiring systems, more than once. I am thinking that our new tenants will take care of this problem for us. The little Owls are pretty, sound great, and are fun to watch!I'm loving this product....... Carrollton, TX.

I ordered two boxes and they arrived packaged very well. This is the second round of screech owl boxes I've had for my backyard in Florida. The first ones (from different manufacturer) were made of pine and did not hold up too well. These new boxes are made very well and I like that they're cedar. I am gong to paint some weatherproofing on the roof portions because that seems to break down quicker than the other surfaces. Most of all, I'm going to use way sturdier screws to install it PLUS put a bracket on the bottom to attach to post. These are HEAVY and need more support than a couple of small screws. I've had my old ones fall to the ground and the heavier screws and bracket should prevent that. I love having screech owls in my backyard! Very happy to find these well made boxes.

The box was easy to install. Deciding where to install it was the challenge. I wanted to put it in the desert willow tree where I had seen the Screech Owl but the tree wasn’t accommodating. So I put the box in a Palo Verde, facing southeast into the desert. Last night, three weeks after installation, I saw the WSO on a branch in the Palo Verde. This morning i saw the Owl INSIDE the Box!!!! Made my day!!!

The box itself is decent. They mounting screws they provided are some thin phillips head screws that are about 2" long. This simply isn't sufficient to mount the box to a tree. You will find that tree trunks are not a flat mounting surface and you actually need a great deal of length to securely anchor into the tree. Even if you did find a very flat spot there are now washers and the screw heads on the provided screws will crunch into the cedar.Nice box but unfortunately need to buy screws and washer separate. Recommend 5"+ screws with hex heads.

I'd give it Five Stars if I had an owl nesting in it vs. a squirrel! Very sturdy, and will be durable. It is up high so cleaning it out after nesting season will require a ladder as it did putting it up. Maybe could have avoided that with a bottom trap door that opened and dumped with the flick of a lever but don't know if even that would work when the box is as high as it needs to be to attract an owl. Nice!

Beautiful product. We mounted the house close to the deck of our suburban house and attracted a pair within the first two months. Screech owls are comfortable in the presence of humans who remain non-threatening. One reason may be that their primary predator, great horned owls, are more wary of us. (Once you've attracted a pair, do not use iPhone bird apps as this will induce territorial or threat response from your owls.)We watched our pair regularly and saw their courtship, mating, and feeding behaviors up close. We also watched the remarkable behavior of the fledglings as they left the nest, climbed a neighboring three using talons and beak, and were guarded and fed by their parents until they could fly.The pair returned the next year but their nestlings failed as a result of a severe drought and long heatwave in Texas.This is a great investment, and Amazon had the best price I could find.Amazon, make this eligible for Prime!