Homes for Hoots

03/02/2024

12/30/2022

Friends,

With your help we've sold or gifted 19 owl nesting boxes across 11 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana (map shown), raising $450 for raptor rehabilitation, education and habitat conservation since our inception 3 short years ago. Combining these numbers with our homegrown songbird houses, these figures jump to 67 birdhouses and $1280 raised for avian conservation (see Birdsong Gourdhouses for more detail). While we may be building fewer lumber-based owl nesting boxes than we did when we first started, we still take and fulfill every order we receive. In the near future we're hoping to have eastern screech owl nesting structures made out of our homegrown gourds. In the meantime, we'll continue working with lumber as we've been doing. Thanks for helping us to make the world more friendly to owls.

~ Michael and Katie

09/07/2022

Screech owl boxes before and after staining 🦉

09/05/2022

Our friends requested a nest box after hearing the familiar trills and whinnies of an eastern screech owl in their backyard trees. We were happy to build and install a box for them. Hopefully they'll get an owl to move in quickly. Have a blessed day. ~ Michael

12/24/2021

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! We're taking a break until the spring months as we need 60° weather days to weatherproof our birdhouses. In the spring we'll be offering homegrown, homemade songbird houses in addition to the screech owl nest boxes that we normally build.

Kind regards,
Michael & Katie
Homes for Hoots

02/17/2021

Here at RAPTOR Inc, our primary function is rescuing and rehabilitating local birds of prey. Here's what to do if you see a raptor in need.

09/27/2020

There's nothing quite like releasing an owl back into the wild after it has been rehabilitated. The eastern screech owl we released last night was transported to RAPTOR, Inc. a few months back as a fledgling with an eye injury. Despite being blind in one eye and unable to hunt live prey on its own initially, patience prevailed and this feisty screech owl would eventually prove itself capable of hunting and determined to reenter the wild. To us this is a highest testimony that can be said about an organization that rehabilitates wildlife. RAPTOR, Inc. is a perfect example of stewardship and we're proud to contribute to its vision.

09/26/2020

Greetings friends! My wife, Katie and I wanted to take a moment to thank y'all for the support and encouragement you've given us in our first year of philanthropy. Since we began this venture we have sold seven nest boxes and donated four (soon to be five) others in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. With the boxes we've sold we raised more than $200 for our feathered friends undergoing rehabilitation at RAPTOR, Inc.

As the pandemic continues to create issues with material sourcing, we are temporarily reducing our product selection and will be building only screech owl boxes through the Spring of 2021. That being said, we are now building screech owl / kestrel boxes out of either pine (right, $50) or cedar (left, $75). If you have questions please feel free to message us. RAPTOR, Inc. is working on updating their website to reflect the changes we mentioned. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to message us. Thanks again for your support and be safe!

Kind Regards,
Michael & Katie
Homes for Hoots

02/24/2020

At Homes for Hoots, our dedication to conservation is not solely limited to fundraising for raptor rehabilitation. We believe strongly in stewardship, and it is through these efforts that we aspire to create a regional impact. How do we do both? For each order we fulfill benefiting RAPTOR, Inc., we strive to locate a suitable park, nature preserve, or other entity for which we may donate a second nest box.

Since our inception in early January, we have managed to fulfill five orders and have also donated three (soon to be four) nest boxes. The map below highlights the distribution of our nest boxes by county. Among the boxes donated, two directly benefit the "Barn Owl Initiative" managed through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Wildlife Division and are being installed in an extensive area of restored grassland habitat. In the months ahead we hope to increase our numbers as we expand nest box donations into south central and southeastern Ohio. We are also excited to expand our conservation outreach efforts into both Kentucky and Indiana as we partner with their state departments to build barn owl boxes to support their state-specific initiatives.

We wish to thank everyone that has supported us and made this possible.

02/17/2020

[OwlWatch]

For nature enthusiasts that have never seen baby owls hatch.

We have been waiting patiently for nearly one month while Mrs. Barred kept her eggs warm and safe. With eggs 1 and 2 laid on 1/21 and 1/25, respectively, we can reasonably anticipate owlets within the next week. Live stream link below for those interested in tuning in.

https://youtu.be/eufrp2bCEd0

02/14/2020

Happy 'Owlentines' Day from Homes for Hoots! ❤

Happy Valentine's Day! ❤️

By early spring, Barn Owl pairs are usually spending much of their time at their intended nest place. Most pairs engage in mutual preening and cheek rubbing as part of courtship and pair-bonding! 😍

You can find out more about Barn Owls in Spring here: www.barnowltrust.org.uk/barn-owl-facts/barn-owl-nesting/.

This wonderful photo was taken by Phil Thorogood!

02/02/2020

Have a safe, happy Superb Owl Sunday y'all! 🦉🏈 - Michael & Katie