I wonder what species of bird this is intended to be for? its about 10 ft off the ground,and the entrance hole is about 18"tall.I would say they have enough room in there for a few chicks.
Looks like a dog house to me. its on a state WMA near here.Anybody seen anything similar?










It was an interesting morning,even if way too early in the year for hunting

Owls maybe?

Alan

Bats...maybe?

I'd be more inclined to think ducks, but I can tell you it ain't for bats. I've had to build a lot of bat houses as mititgation, they are narrow vertical boxes with the entire bottom being open, and placed 15+ feet off of the ground. Owls, I don't know--but the ones I've had to build go way up in tree also.

It'll be interesting to see the exact answer.

Looks like some of the wood duck houses built in the marshes here.

I would guess Wood Duck as well.

If the opening is indeed 18" tall then that makes the box about 6' - 7' tall. I guess you could always reach your arm in there and feel around.

Alan

Squirrel house!

Flying monkeys?

It definitely looks like the houses my father used to build out of cedar shingles for wood ducks when I was a boy. I used to wade out into a sheltered part of the swamp near shore and drive the pointed stake deep into the muck. (My father hammered old razor blades at an angle into the stake to discourage water snakes from crawling up in the Spring) Yeah, it looks to me like it's for wood ducks. (Scarce when I was a boy in NY and season limit was only 1 when I was a teenager -Thus I never shot a "woodie" in my life)

I kind of doubt it would be for wood ducks if the hole is 18" high and the box is that big. My guess would be some kind of house for a marsh bird colony.

The Wood Duck boxes I've seen look a bit different and are not quite so big. They are also very near or over water.

Alan

wood duck houses are way smaller.There are hundreds of woodie houses around.
This thing is at least 4-5 FEET tall.it is in a upland field,some distance from water.Im guessing its for owls,but,I dont know yet.I would have thought it would have been better in the trees,but what do I know.
If you compare the width of the 2x4 braces on the bottom (1 1/2 x3 1/2),to the opening,it would be about 3 2x4s widths tall,which would be about 10-12 inches high.Smaller than my estimate,but it shows just how big it is.

I've seen a lot of wood duck billets and blue bird houses, but never anything quite like this. Somebody put a lot of time and effort into it.

So maybe it was some boy scout project that went on tilt. Some well meaning dad with some new tools got a little carried away.

Let's not rule out the possibility that some tree-hugging dipshit had a notion that this was something that he/she thought birds would like. Maybe it was a left over dog house and they featured it as a potential condo for condors.

Lets not forget this is on STATE property,and this was probably paid for with tax dollars.It probably cost well over $1000 for this to be planned,built and installed.There is a large locked gate that must have been opened for someone to put that post in the ground.
I like how the tin to keep raccoons and squirrels out around the post is above the 2x4 braces,making the tin useless.

Barn owls. Although it's a somewhat "unique" design there's little doubt. I've twice seen them built and placed (both times on public land) as boy scout projects.

BTW, that tiny predator guard would be useless where ever it was on the post but yes, especially there!

i suspect it is just something someone built as a lark. certainly not suitable for any bird in the lower 48 states, obviously not for any canine.

I am gonna say it is an owl box, either Barn Owls or Great Horned Owls will use this type box. JMO.

I'll agree with Barn Owl as well, they don't need much room on the floor, so the entrance hole can be low. Most plans call for the hole higher so the fledglings don't fall out too early. The "deck" is a place where the fledglings can venture out and test their wings before first flight. Lots of room at the top to keep the house from getting too hot.

If it's not for Barn Owls then my second guess would be your local Monk Parakeets

And you thought ducklings were ugly:


But they look great later:

As for the tin predator guard, my guess is that the round pipe under the floor of the house is mounted to the house and slides down over the post.

The 2x4's were probably installed after the house was set in place as an afterthought to keep the house from turning in the wind.

SWAG Method In Action.

best bet is owls.there is quite a barn owl following out there.this is somewhat similar


http://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/content_images/gallery/P...ose_up1211380701.jpg


I emailed one of the dnr heads and asked what its for.should have an answer soon.

quote:

Originally posted by jb:
wood duck houses are way smaller.There are hundreds of woodie houses around.

Then it is obviously a Wood Duck Apartment.

It is probably a Chupacabra House.

When I was in High School some of the teachers got kids to build houses for extra credit for public lands. The public lands folks took what they got for free. Some of them were goofy like that. But free is free!

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:
I've had to build a lot of bat houses as mititgation...

Fish30114-

I don't mean to pry or hijack this thread, but I have a feeling there is a funny story behind building bat houses for mitigation!

Care to share?

quote:

Originally posted by Kenati:

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:
I've had to build a lot of bat houses as mititgation...

Fish30114-

I don't mean to pry or hijack this thread, but I have a feeling there is a funny story behind building bat houses for mitigation!

Care to share?

Well the quick short version is, 1500 acre parcel, 30 acres of swamp there, and a cave known to house bats. In order to gain permitting to build a bridge that SPANNED, did not touch in any way the swamp, I got to provide mitigation for 'existing indiginous species enhancement' {say that fast} on 5 upland acres (read as not in swamp) and throughout the projcet for other credit. Encouraging bat survival is a great win/win though, they eat lots of bugs, and we built about 500 'bat boxes' throughout the project, along with lots of wetland establishment on the 5 upland acres......about 300 of the bat boxes actually ended up with bats in them, which the biologists told us was great!

Interesting stuff to be sure!

Wow! Thanks. That is interesting. I thought for you sure you were going to tell a story about being busted for shooting bats with pellet guns under railroad trusses like we used to do as kids. Haha

We didn't realize the amazing amount of insects they eat every night.