Barn Owl Nest Box Plans (Indoor)
For Barn Owls nesting inside barns and outbuildings
A large nest box for American Barn Owls nesting indoors, in a barn or outbuilding. Its 5" × 5" entrance sits high in the front, so the chicks can't climb out before they're ready to fledge, and an exercise floor with railings runs outside it.
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The design
- A 5" × 5" entrance, sized for adult barn owls and set high enough above the floor to keep the young from leaving too early.
- An exercise floor outside the entrance, with hardwood railings. The owls wear the railings down with their talons, so they're oak.
- A hinged clean-out door in the side, held shut by barrel bolts, for cleaning after each nesting season.
- ½" drainage holes in the floor and the exercise floor, and ¾" ventilation holes near the top of the walls.
- Built from ¾" exterior-grade plywood, with ½" plywood for the exercise floor.
I build the boxes to check the plans, and refine the instructions from what I learn. More about how the plans are made.
A page from the plan: the Right Side and its clean-out door
What's in the plan
- A page for each part, with its dimensions, hole placements and assembly steps: the front, left side, back, floor cleats, right side with its clean-out door, floor, roof, exercise floor and its support cleat, and the exercise railings.
- Mounting holes in the back, for fastening the box in place.
- A sourced materials list, a cut sheet and an exploded view.
Materials
¾" and ½" exterior-grade plywood, and an oak board for the railings. Exterior screws, hinges and barrel bolts. The materials list in the plan names each one.
Buy on Etsy
$10 · 19-page printable PDF · instant download
Not ready yet? See a complete plan first: the Carolina Wren plan is free.