Anybody ever set up an animal camera?

[Martinjmpr]

Has anyone here ever set up a camera to watch animals / birds? This would be at our house so it can be something that plugs into 120v house current. Ideally it would have a wi-fi or Bluetooth connection to the internet so we can watch in real time. Right now we have one of our Arlo security cameras but the motion sensor is not that good so we rarely catch actual motion (Edited to clarify: The issue is the "lag time" between the sensor and the camera. By the time the sensor turns on the camera, the bird is gone.)

What we're specifically watching is an owl nest. We'd like to be able to watch the owl in real time. Not sure how to do that so I thought I'd poll the group and see if anyone had set up motion activated game cameras or something similar.

[O2HeN2]

https://wyze.com/wyze-cam.html

For like $2 a month you get a bunch of functionality, including buffered video, which means that when it "sees" motion, it has a few seconds recorded before the motion.

For live viewing you will get a few seconds delay.

O2

[BladesNBarrels]

Thanks for posting that link.
That seems interesting.

[Hummer]

I've used trail cams but a hard wired full time active monitoring system would be far better. I once mounted a trail cam in an apricot tree to watch the movement and prey items of Saw-whet Owls using a nest box in my orchard. I had lag problems as the cam sensor wasn't fast enough to catch the little birds in flight. I have done several rescues of Great Horned Owl young when their nests fell from trees. I've used large wicker baskets, fruit boxes and large milk crates to anchor a new nest, and we used a trail cam on one. A friend uses hard wired nest cams inside Barn Owl boxes that he records and moniter in the house and remotely. They work pretty well. I plan to go to hard wired cameras next summer.

If it's close to the house a bluetooth trail cam should work I would suggest that you put it in place asap because Great Horned Owls begin nesting in January and February. Set the camera some distance away like 15-30 feet so it can detect movement well away from the nest as the adults appproach. And, put the camera up and adjust it during the sunny part of the day when the owls are sleeping/roosting some distance from the nest.

[hunterhawk]

Im a fan of ridgetec and tactacam if you decide to go the trail camera route. I love the notifications and as soon as i go get them will be using them as the security cameras as they notifiy you asap.

[Martinjmpr]

Ours is an Eastern Screech Owl. Here?s a photo from just a few minutes ago :




I made the owl box almost 3 years ago. We had never had anything in them except a flicker (woodpecker) that I hazed out of there (because it was waking me up at 5:30 AM!) and another bird we thought may have been a starling. Then on Christmas morning I walked out and looked up and there she was (we hope it's a she because we'd like to see owlets.)

[Hummer]

Hey, that's great! It looks like the box is over a covered walkway, maybe 6 ft. from the ground? The nesting period for Screech-Owls in CO can vary from mid-April to mid-June, so your bird is only winter roosting for now. They tend to move around in winter so it may or may not nest there. If your bird is still there since Christmas, that's a good sign. The local food resources, habitat, mate availability and minimal disturbance are key to whether it will remain to nest. If a pair nests there, surviving birds often re-nest in the same location.

We have seven Screech-Owl nest boxes on our farm and usually get a winter roosting bird in one or more boxes. We have pretty good habitat but in 30+ years have only had two Screech-Owl nests, both successful. Competition from Great Horned and Long-eared Owls may be a factor as both will predate the small owls. We've had many more nests in the boxes by American Kestrels, almost every year. I doubt you will ever get a kestrel in that box location so flickers may be your best bird. Kestrels are very sensitive to human disturbance. Non-native Starlings and House Sparrows will be a problem. I always remove their nests once they lay eggs.

You might get lucky by putting up another box or two on the house or a nearby tree, facing east is best for Screech-Owls. Enjoy your winter roosting bird while you can.

[Martinjmpr]

Hey, that's great! It looks like the box is over a covered walkway, maybe 6 ft. from the ground? The nesting period for Screech-Owls in CO can vary from mid-April to mid-June, so your bird is only winter roosting for now. They tend to move around in winter so it may or may not nest there. If your bird is still there since Christmas, that's a good sign. The local food resources, habitat, mate availability and minimal disturbance are key to whether it will remain to nest. If a pair nests there, surviving birds often re-nest in the same location.

It's under the eave of our 2 story house, even with the window in my home office so probably at least 16' off the ground. I assume higher is better to be free of predators? Our house faces south and this box is on the West facing side.

We have seven Screech-Owl nest boxes on our farm and usually get a winter roosting bird in one or more boxes. We have pretty good habitat but in 30+ years have only had two Screech-Owl nests, both successful. Competition from Great Horned and Long-eared Owls may be a factor as both will predate the small owls. We've had many more nests in the boxes by American Kestrels, almost every year. I doubt you will ever get a kestrel in that box location so flickers may be your best bird. Kestrels are very sensitive to human disturbance. Non-native Starlings and House Sparrows will be a problem. I always remove their nests once they lay eggs.

You might get lucky by putting up another box or two on the house or a nearby tree, facing east is best for Screech-Owls. Enjoy your winter roosting bird while you can.

Our east facing side is completely smooth (no gables or windows) so plenty of room for a box over there and the wife asked me to build another box for her, probably this weekend.

Thanks for the tips!

[Hummer]

It's under the eave of our 2 story house, even with the window in my home office so probably at least 16' off the ground. I assume higher is better to be free of predators? Our house faces south and this box is on the West facing side.


Our east facing side is completely smooth (no gables or windows) so plenty of room for a box over there and the wife asked me to build another box for her, probably this weekend.

Thanks for the tips!

East facing isn't necessary but preferable according to a friend who is an owl expert. One of my Screech-Owl nests was in a shady west facing box in a cottonwood. Sixteen feet up is more attractive to the birds due to predators. It also makes the box more attractive to kestrels and flickers.

A few suggestions on the new box from looking at your existing one. Make the box larger, like 9.5 x 9.5 x 20 inches deep. A larger box allows for a larger clutch and the birds especially like the extra depth. Keep the entrance hole up near the top like mine above and as you have on your box.

Extend the back board about 3 inches above and below the box to include space for anchor screws. It doesn't need to be wider but a bottom rest cleat to span from stud to stud is fine.

Extend the top 3-4 inches over the front to protect the entrance hole from rain and sun. It also may protect from a Sharp-shinned Hawk reaching from the roof to a bird at the entrance. Same with the additional front hole cover board like you have on your existing box. But I'd leave the cover board natural rough cedar even if you paint the rest of the box to match your siding.

On the front board inside the box, nail or screw a couple cleats across and below the hole so the young can climb to the entrance hole. Something like 1/2 inch square and 4 inches across, about 3 inches apart vertically.

Good luck and be careful on the ladder.