Most owls seldom build their own nests. Great horned and long-eared owls prefer abandoned crow and hawk nests. Other owls (barred, barn, saw-whet, boreal and screech) nest in tree cavities and bird houses. Barn owls are best known for selecting nesting sites near farms. Where trees are sparse, these birds will nest in church steeples, silos
and barns. If you live near a farm or a golf course, try fastening a nest box for owls about 15 feet up on a tree trunk.

Screech owls prefer abandoned woodpecker holes at the edge of a field or neglected orchard. They will readily take to boxes lined with an inch or two of wood shavings. If you clean the box out in late spring after the young owls have fledged, you may attract a second tenant—a kestrel. Trees isolated from larger tracts of woods have less chance of squirrels taking over the box.

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Wrens don’t seem to be very picky about where they nest, In fact I caught one napping in my bat box.Try nest boxes with a 1 inch x 2 inch horizontal slot (11/2 inch x 21/2 inch for the larger Carolina wrens) instead of a circle. These are easier for the wrens to use. However, the larger the opening, the more likely it is house sparrows will occupy the box.

Wrens are known for filling a nest cavity with twigs, regardless of whether they use the nest to raise their young. Since male house wrens build several nests for the female to
choose from, hang several nest boxes at eye level on partly sunlit tree limbs. Wrens are sociable and will accept nest boxes quite close to your house.

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