Building a wildlife tower
Our wildlife towers have attracted nesting Barn Owls, Kestrels and House Sparrows, plus Little Owl, and four species of bat including Lesser Horseshoe and Brown Long-eared among all sorts of other creatures and small birds.
This proven design is ideal where a traditional Barn Owl site is being lost and provision which will last for future generations is needed. We offer professional architectural plans for a nominal donation of £50 – a huge saving on the cost of having your own plans drawn up. See Build a wildlife tower for more information.
This is how our first wildlife tower was built, with photos of all the wildlife friendly features included in the design.
Wildlife tower construction
A site was chosen and the ground was levelled.
Footings were excavated and stone moved over . . .
. . . from another part of the site.
The block work was started.
The stone facing followed.
The front doorway.
A nice stone lintel and the bat entrance hole.
Scaffolding was required for the second storey.
The gable end.
Green Oak was used for the roof timbers . . .
. . . with a generous overhang to provide cover.
Welsh slate was used on the roof.
Rocks for reptiles and amphibians were piled around the base.
Finished but looking a bit bare.
Only a week later… it snowed!
The front aspect showing the access doors and the Barn Owl provision
Wildlife tower features and provisions
The lower door is steel on the inside to keep the interior cool.
Upper level access door is just solid Oak
Cavities of varying sizes for nesting birds and invertebrates.
Small holes ideal for invertebrates, mainly on the south side.
Entrance hole to Barn Owl provision on the west side.
The bottom of the Barn Owl nestbox is 500mm below the owl hole.
Entrance hole to the Kestrel nestbox on the east side.
Kestrel nestbox with human access panel removed.
Little Owl entrance hole in the east side.
Little Owl nestbox just below the Kestrel provision.
One of various bat access holes.
South-facing insulated (hot) bat space.
Slate tile top of the cold north-facing bat space.
- How to build a wildlife tower
- Find out more about Wildlife Towers from the Barn Owl Conservation Handbook.