Hawks and Owls
We have alluded to undesirable tenants, meaning usually, or in particular, the English Sparrow and European Starling. There is also another class of possible bird-house occupants to be dealt with—the owls and the Sparrow Hawk. The owls and the hawks are usually considered taboo on account of their fondness for the smaller birds which most persons wish to encourage. One does not ordinarily keep cats and canaries in the same restricted and common area and expect pleasing results. Yet, it may be quite another thing if an estate is large enough to provide sufficient wild cover. Owls and hawks are as interesting as other birds, and a wood, suitable in size and character, which lacks the quota of owls or hawks natural to it will always be lacking in one of its most proper assets and characteristics. To the true nature lover a great wild forest from which owls are excluded might seem, at best, an arboretum where there might as well be a name tag on each tree-trunk.
An occasional nesting site for owls in a wood of many acres, an appropriate box or two for Sparrow Hawks in a waste tract or along a few hundred yards of woodside will invite us to visit these places more often and will provide a new zest to the visits. At the same time, we are but following nature’s way of balancing the wildlife. Nor will the smaller birds be seriously affected; there may be a tendency for many of them to move in a little closer toward our dwellings for increased safety.
A house for small owls and the Sparrow Hawk should follow the lines of the house illustrated in [Plate V], size of entrance and other dimensions being given in [Table I].