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Arlene's Hand-Built Owl Box
Arlene's Hand-Built Owl Box
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Arlene's Hand-Built Owl Box
Hand-built in a garage in Prince Edward County, Ontario
Arlene Callander, sixty-eight — thirty-one autumns as a volunteer owl bander on Lake Ontario, more than nine hundred owl boxes built since 1998. A fall from an icy ladder has ended her ladder days. Sixty-four boxes are all that is left on her bench.
“An owl can’t dig. A woodpecker can make a hole, an owl can’t. It needs an old tree that’s half rotten, and everybody cuts those down first.”
What arrives at your door
Why an owl moves in — and a garden-centre box sits empty
The entrance is 9.5 cm (3¾ in) across and set high on the front. Big enough for a saw-whet owl, a screech-owl or a kestrel. Too small for a raccoon to squeeze in, and too small for a big owl to take over.
From the hole down to the floor is a full 33 cm. A raccoon, a crow or a blue jay can reach in. They can’t reach the bottom, where the eggs sit.
No paint, no stain, no varnish. A painted box smells wrong to an owl for a whole season. Plain pine turns the same soft grey as an old maple branch by spring.
The front opens on a single hook. The old nest comes out in two minutes every September. A box that never gets cleaned fills up with squirrels or starlings, and the owls never get it back.
The iron bracket on the roof hangs it on a tree trunk, a post or the side of a barn. One screw, a ladder and a helper to hold it steady — that is the whole job.
Every box comes from Arlene’s own garage near Cherry Valley. No factory, no second batch. When the last sixty-four are gone, so is the shop.
“The Northern Saw-whet Owl and the Eastern Screech-Owl are both cavity nesters that cannot make their own holes. They rely on old woodpecker holes and on trees that have rotted hollow with age — exactly the dead and dying trees that get cleared first as firewood or as hazards. The owls themselves are not rare. What is missing is the hole. A well-built box puts that hole back: the entrance has to be the right size and set high above a deep floor, the wood has to be untreated, and it has to open for a yearly clean-out. Get those right and, given time, the box will be found.”
Dr. Margaret Doyle, Wildlife Biologist — Cavity-Nesting Birds
Lake Ontario Field Ecology Centre
Perfect for
Quality you can check yourself
- Untreated weather-resistant pine. No stain, no sealant, no paint — nothing with a smell an owl will refuse.
- Entrance set high. 9.5 cm across, well above the floor, so nothing can reach the eggs from the hole.
- A truly deep box. About 33 cm from the hole down to the floor.
- A clean-out door that really opens. Hinged front on one hook, so the box gets used year after year.
- Solid iron bracket. Hangs on a trunk, a post or a barn wall and stays put through a winter of wind and snow.
30-day guarantee
If it isn’t right for your yard, email info@craft-folk.com within 30 days and send it back for a full refund. No fuss, no questions.
Hand-built, so no two are exactly alike. Grain and knots differ from box to box — that is the wood, not a fault. On what moves in, we would rather be honest with you: a box is an invitation, not a booking. Sometimes an owl moves in the first spring, sometimes it takes a few. Hang it high, facing east, out of the wind, and give it time. On species: the 9.5 cm entrance suits Northern Saw-whet Owls, Eastern Screech-Owls and American Kestrels. It is not for Barred, Great Horned or Barn Owls — those need a far bigger box.
Product details
| Material | Untreated weather-resistant pine, iron hanging bracket |
| Finish | Bare wood — unpainted, unsealed, weathers to grey |
| Overall size (H × W × D) | approx. 38.5 × 25 × 28 cm (15¼ × 9¾ × 11 in) |
| Inside (H × W × D) | approx. 33 × 18 × 21 cm |
| Entrance | approx. 9.5 cm (3¾ in), set high on the front |
| Weight | approx. 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) |
| Suitable for | Northern Saw-whet Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl, American Kestrel. Not suitable for Barred, Great Horned or Barn Owls. |
| Hanging | Tree trunk, post or barn wall, 3–5 m (10–16 ft) up, entrance facing east or southeast, out of the prevailing wind |
| Best time to hang | In the fall, before the snow — small owls start looking for nest holes in February and March |
| Care | Brush it out once a year in September through the hinged front |
| Made by | Arlene Callander, Prince Edward County, Ontario — by hand, one at a time |
| Remaining boxes | 64. There is no second batch. |
The Last Winter
The Last Winter
A note from the workshop:
Arlene Callander taught Grade 4 in Picton for 33 years. Every October since 1995 she has banded saw-whet owls on Prince Edward Point, on Lake Ontario — more than six thousand of them. And she learned one thing: a small owl can’t dig its own nest hole. It needs an old tree with a hollow in it, and those are the trees people cut down first. So since 1998 she has built more than nine hundred owl boxes in her garage near Cherry Valley, and hung every one herself. Last February she fell from an icy ladder and broke her hip. Her surgeon has said no more ladders, ever. 64 boxes are left on her bench. When they are gone, there is no second batch. Small owls start looking for nest holes in February and March, so the time to hang a box is now, in the fall, before the snow.
Free Shipping Across Canada
Free Shipping Across Canada
Free shipping across Canada
- Delivery time: 4–8 business days
- Every box is carefully packed and sent with tracking
- Arrives ready to hang, with the iron bracket fitted
- Size: about 38.5 × 25 × 28 cm (15¼ × 9¾ × 11 in), entrance 9.5 cm (3¾ in), about 1.3 kg
- For saw-whet owls, screech-owls and kestrels — not for barred, great horned or barn owls
- 30-day money-back guarantee — just email info@craft-folk.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Email us anytime at info@craft-folk.com. We answer Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–3pm (Eastern Time). Whether it’s about your order or where to hang your owl box — a real person writes back.
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Of course. 30-day money-back guarantee. If it isn’t right for your yard, email info@craft-folk.com within 30 days for a full refund. No questions asked.
How is it made?
How is it made?
Arlene cuts every box from plain, untreated pine on her table saw, drills the 9.5 cm entrance high on the front and fits the hinged clean-out door and the iron bracket herself. No paint, no stain — a painted box smells wrong to an owl. Every box is checked in her garage before it leaves. Small differences in grain and knots are part of the charm.