Chambers

Chambers: What do your owls need?
How Big? Most chambers don’t need to be super-sized. A single 5-gallon bucket or even smaller container would make a cozy home for wintering BuOws. These would also be great for males while the female is incubating the eggs (as she’s not keen on sharing her quarters with her mate) or for a chick looking for a starter home. This size also works for nesting BuOws in rodent-poor areas such as the Imperial Valley. Low calcium levels in their insect prey mean only 2 or 3 chicks per family.
Large families need a roomier nesting chamber. Where rodents are high on the menu, broods may have up to a dozen chicks! Provide at least one burrow with a chamber with floor space equal or larger than two connected 5-gallon buckets.  A too-small nest chamber forces parents to move the chicks before they’re ready.
Satellites? All BuOw parents normally move chicks between several burrows to reduce risk of losing the whole brood to a nest predator or protect smaller chicks from bullying. Most of the chambers in these “satellite burrows” don’t need to be large enough for a dozen chicks. The old standby 5-gallon bucket works fine. Quantity and distribution are more important than size.
Examples? For a photo safari, click on an album below. The Gallery has shots of a variety of BuOws homes in process, in situ and improbable. Possibilities aims to jump-start your own creativity and potentially save you some mileage on blind alleys. Favorites are my personal choices as winners.

How Many? To begin, try for at least three burrows total. In general, the more the better. This is where it’s great to have some squirrels on your team. And remember, even a tunnel with NO chamber can be a life-saving hideout for a BuOw when a hawk’s looking for lunch. Spacious entry canopies help, too.
Spacing? Everyone has different ideas about spacing. I’ve seen parents use satellite burrows with entrances as close as 15 feet and heard of use up to 300 feet. Experiment! See what works for you and what your owls like.
Designs? Location is the key. If it’s in the right spot, BuOws will use anything remotely suitable as a burrow including trash piles, concrete rubble and even a buried car! Keep this in mind if things start getting too complicated; there’s no one perfect chamber. There are as many different designs as people making them. With a little thought and effort, your creations are bound to work fine. I use free, recycled or surplus materials for chambers but buy tunnel pipe.

Possibilities

Favorites

Perfect Fit? What’s your situation? Time? Money? Tools? Help? (Who do you want to let in on the fun?) Don’t stress! BuOws can fit into any budget, and the thrill is immense when they use your stuff!
How-To’s? I’ve detailed one of an infinite number of possible ways to turn a 5-gallon bucket into the chamber for a burrow. This simple method uses inexpensive, easily-accessible tools - mostly “low-risk” hand tools. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to turn one out in about 18 minutes. Since it demands a bit of muscle power, you may want to just do one or two at a time.

For speedy, “production” construction, check out this power chamber made using  4 3/8” & 5 1/4” hole saws with a 1/2” cordless drill. It’s 9 minutes start to finish with little muscle or skill required. The drill and hole saws are the key. Neither are cheap or forgiving but they’re fast. I’ve also detailed a hybrid method that uses both power and hand tools for an easy 15-minute chamber.
More? Click on photos or the Info Dots in the Chamber Grid for more details on other chambers. Then mix and match Tunnels, Entries & Perches.

Comparisons? If you’re bewildered by the choices and want to  do some nitty-gritty comparison shopping, check out the Chambers Grid. It shows common chamber materials and let’s you see at a glance their strong (darker) and weak (lighter) points.  Just as in the rest of  life, often you have to spend time to save money. My own bottom line is  getting the most  completed, low-maintenance burrows considering  my own resources.