{"product_id":"cols-hand-built-owl-box","title":"Col's Hand-Built Owl Box","description":"\u003cstyle\u003e\n.prod-wrapper * { margin: 0 !important; padding: 0 !important; box-sizing: border-box !important; }\n.prod-wrapper { font-family: 'Poppins', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif !important; color: #20251f !important; background: #f7f4ee !important; max-width: 760px !important; margin: 0 auto !important; padding: 24px 18px 48px !important; font-size: 16px !important; line-height: 1.65 !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; }\n.prod-hero { background: #2a2f26 !important; border-radius: 12px !important; padding: 38px 32px !important; text-align: center !important; margin-bottom: 26px !important; }\n.prod-hero-icon { font-size: 40px !important; display: block !important; margin-bottom: 12px !important; }\n.prod-hero h1 { font-size: 26px !important; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 1.3 !important; margin-bottom: 10px !important; }\n.prod-hero p { font-size: 15px !important; 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display: block !important; margin-bottom: 6px !important; }\n.prod-feature-card p { font-size: 13px !important; color: #54514a !important; line-height: 1.55 !important; }\n.prod-expert { background: #2a2f26 !important; border-radius: 12px !important; padding: 30px 32px !important; margin: 34px 0 !important; }\n.prod-expert p.prod-expert-quote { font-size: 15.5px !important; font-style: italic !important; line-height: 1.7 !important; margin-bottom: 14px !important; }\n.prod-expert p.prod-expert-name { font-size: 13px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; }\n.prod-expert p.prod-expert-inst { font-size: 12px !important; }\n.prod-perfect-for { display: flex !important; flex-wrap: wrap !important; gap: 9px !important; justify-content: center !important; margin-bottom: 10px !important; }\n.prod-tag { background: #eceee9 !important; border: 1px solid #d6d2bc !important; border-radius: 999px !important; padding: 8px 15px !important; font-size: 13px !important; font-weight: 500 !important; color: #36452f !important; }\n.prod-list { background: #ffffff !important; border: 1px solid #e1ddcd !important; border-radius: 10px !important; padding: 24px 26px !important; margin-bottom: 10px !important; list-style: none !important; }\n.prod-list li { padding: 10px 0 10px 30px !important; position: relative !important; font-size: 14px !important; color: #444444 !important; border-bottom: 1px solid #eee7d6 !important; line-height: 1.55 !important; }\n.prod-list li:last-child { border-bottom: none !important; }\n.prod-list li::before { content: \"\\2713\" !important; position: absolute !important; left: 2px !important; top: 10px !important; color: #b06a2c !important; font-weight: 700 !important; font-size: 15px !important; }\n.prod-list li strong { color: #36452f !important; font-weight: 600 !important; }\n.prod-guarantee { background: #eceee9 !important; border: 1px solid #d6d2bc !important; border-radius: 12px !important; padding: 28px 30px !important; text-align: center !important; margin: 34px 0 !important; }\n.prod-guarantee h3 { font-size: 18px !important; font-weight: 700 !important; color: #36452f !important; margin-bottom: 8px !important; }\n.prod-guarantee p { font-size: 14px !important; color: #54514a !important; line-height: 1.6 !important; }\n.prod-note { background: #f3efe6 !important; border: 1px solid #e0d8bd !important; border-radius: 10px !important; padding: 20px 24px !important; margin-bottom: 26px !important; }\n.prod-note p { font-size: 13.5px !important; color: #565033 !important; line-height: 1.6 !important; }\n.prod-note strong { color: #3f3a1f !important; font-weight: 600 !important; }\n.prod-specs { width: 100% !important; border-collapse: collapse !important; background: #ffffff !important; border: 1px solid #e1ddcd !important; border-radius: 10px !important; overflow: hidden !important; }\n.prod-specs td { padding: 12px 16px !important; font-size: 13.5px !important; border-bottom: 1px solid #eee7d6 !important; vertical-align: top !important; }\n.prod-specs tr:last-child td { border-bottom: none !important; }\n.prod-specs td:first-child { font-weight: 600 !important; color: #36452f !important; width: 38% !important; background: #f7f4ee !important; }\n.prod-specs td:last-child { color: #444444 !important; }\n@media (max-width: 600px) { .prod-includes { grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr !important; } .prod-features { grid-template-columns: 1fr !important; } .prod-hero h1 { font-size: 22px !important; } }\n\u003c\/style\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-wrapper\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-hero\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-hero-icon\"\u003e🦉\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003ch1 style=\"color:#ffffff !important;\"\u003eHand-built in the box-ironbark country above Maldon, Victoria\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"color:#d9cdb6 !important;\"\u003eCol Brennan, seventy-three — thirty-eight years a licensed wildlife carer, more than sixteen hundred nest boxes and a card for every one. Surgery on his right hand has ended the fine work. Fifty-eight boxes are all that is left on the bench.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-story\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"prod-story-quote\"\u003e“A moth owl can’t cut its own doorway. It takes what an old tree gives it, and an old tree takes a hundred years. So I cut it one.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"prod-story-author\"\u003e— Col Brennan, Maldon, central Victoria\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"prod-h2\"\u003eWhat turns up at your door\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-includes\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-include-tile\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-inc-icon\"\u003e🏡\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Owl Box\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOne hand-built untreated-pine nest box, ready to mount\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-include-tile\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-inc-icon\"\u003e🔨\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFitted Hardware\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIron mounting bracket and a hinged drop-front cleaning door\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-include-tile\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-inc-icon\"\u003e📝\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSiting Card\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEast or south-east, 3–5 m up, out of the afternoon sun\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-include-tile\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-inc-icon\"\u003e🌿\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBuilt to Weather\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRaw pine that breathes, greys down and stays outside\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"prod-h2\"\u003eWhy something actually moves in — and a hardware-shop box sits empty\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-features\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-feature-card\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-feat-icon\"\u003e🚪\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe 95-Millimetre Doorway\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe entrance is bored by hand to roughly 9.5 cm and set high in the face of the box. Wide enough for a moth owl, a rosella or a ringtail to slip through, and deliberately too tight for a brushtail possum to shoulder in and own the place. The size of that one opening, and how high it sits, decides what ends up living in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-feature-card\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-feat-icon\"\u003e🛡\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe 33-Centimetre Drop\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is about 33 cm from the lip of the doorway down to the floor where the clutch sits. A currawong cannot lean in far enough, a kookaburra cannot reach the bottom and a goanna’s arm stops well short. The deep ones raise birds. The shallow ones just feed whatever finds them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-feature-card\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-feat-icon\"\u003e🪵\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Bare-Timber Rule\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eUntreated, unpainted pine, 20 mm thick, and nothing else. A freshly painted box reads as a chemical warning to a bird, and a dark one cooks like a ute cabin through a forty-degree week. Raw timber breathes and weathers to the same grey as an old ironbark limb.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-feature-card\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-feat-icon\"\u003e🧹\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Drop-Front Hatch\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe whole front swings open on a single fitted hook. A season of pellets, feathers and leaf litter comes out in about two minutes. In this country that is not housekeeping — an unchecked box is how a pair of starlings or a swarm of feral bees end up owning it permanently.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-feature-card\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-feat-icon\"\u003e🪜\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Climb-Out Grain\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe inner wall under the doorway is left rough sawn, with low grooves cut across it. Young birds leave the hollow before they can fly properly and have to climb that wall to reach the opening. A smooth interior is a bucket.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-feature-card\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-feat-icon\"\u003e👐\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBuilt by One Pair of Hands\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery box is cut, bored and grooved by Col himself on one worn bandsaw — the better part of a day of work in each. No crew, no machine stamping them out, and no second batch once the bench is empty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-expert\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"prod-expert-quote\" style=\"color:#ffffff !important;\"\u003e“The Australian owlet-nightjar, the bird most people know as the moth owl, is a secondary hollow user. It cannot excavate anything — it depends entirely on hollows that a eucalypt has grown on its own, and a usable hollow takes upwards of a hundred years to form. That is the whole bottleneck. In New South Wales alone, 46 mammals, 81 birds, 31 reptiles and 16 frogs rely on tree hollows, and the loss of hollow-bearing trees is a listed Key Threatening Process. In the box-ironbark country of central Victoria the old trees went in a single generation during the gold rush, and the regrowth that replaced them is nowhere near old enough to have holes in it. A correctly built nest box is the fastest way an individual can put that habitat back: the entrance has to be the right size and set high above a deep floor, the timber has to be untreated and thick enough not to overheat, and it has to open for an annual clean-out. Get those four right and the box will be found. Most retail boxes get at least one of them wrong.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"prod-expert-name\" style=\"color:#cdbb94 !important;\"\u003eDr Alison Vaughan, Ecologist — Hollow-Dependent Fauna\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"prod-expert-inst\" style=\"color:#a9a07f !important;\"\u003eGoldfields Woodland Ecology Centre\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"prod-h2\"\u003ePerfect for\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-perfect-for\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-tag\"\u003e🦉 Moth owls \u0026amp; small hollow users\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-tag\"\u003e🌳 Bush blocks \u0026amp; paddock trees\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-tag\"\u003e🌿 Landcare \u0026amp; revegetation sites\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-tag\"\u003e🐦 Backyard birdos\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-tag\"\u003e🐭 Natural rodent control\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-tag\"\u003e🏫 School grounds \u0026amp; nature programs\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-tag\"\u003e🎁 A gift for a nature lover\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"prod-tag\"\u003e🌙 Quiet rural blocks\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"prod-h2\"\u003eQuality you can check yourself\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul class=\"prod-list\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eUntreated weatherproof pine, 20 mm thick.\u003c\/strong\u003e No stain, no sealant, no paint — nothing that carries a smell a bird will refuse, and nothing dark enough to cook in February.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHand-bored entrance, set high.\u003c\/strong\u003e Roughly 9.5 cm, positioned well above the floor so nothing can work the hole from below.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eA genuinely deep cavity.\u003c\/strong\u003e About 33 cm from the doorway down to the floor, which is what keeps a clutch out of reach.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eA cleaning door that actually opens.\u003c\/strong\u003e Hinged front on a single fitted hook, so the box gets used for years rather than once.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRough-sawn climb-out wall.\u003c\/strong\u003e The detail nobody photographs and every young bird needs on the day it leaves.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-guarantee\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e30-day guarantee\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf it isn’t right for your patch, email info@backroad-goods.com within 30 days and send it back for a full refund. No fuss, no questions. Shipping anywhere in Australia is free both ways.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"prod-note\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHand-built, so no two are identical.\u003c\/strong\u003e Grain, knots and the exact weathering will differ from box to box — that is the timber, not a fault. \u003cstrong\u003eOn what moves in, we would rather be straight with you:\u003c\/strong\u003e a nest box is an offer of habitat, not a booking. Whether something takes it up depends on what is living within range of you, on the country around you and on where you put it, and it can take a season or three. What is certain is the other way round — an animal that finds no hollow at all has no chance. \u003cstrong\u003eOn species:\u003c\/strong\u003e the ~9.5 cm entrance suits moth owls (Australian owlet-nightjars), crimson and eastern rosellas, ringtail possums and antechinus. It is \u003cstrong\u003enot\u003c\/strong\u003e a boobook, barn owl or powerful owl box — those birds need a far larger opening and a much bigger floor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"prod-h2\"\u003eProduct details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ctable class=\"prod-specs\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eUntreated weatherproof pine, iron mounting bracket\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFinish\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBare sawn timber — unpainted, unsealed, weathers to grey\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eOverall size (H × W × D)\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eapprox. 38.5 × 25 × 28 cm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eInterior (H × W × D)\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eapprox. 33 × 18 × 21 cm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eEntrance\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eapprox. 9.5 × 9.5 cm, set high in the face\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eapprox. 1.3 kg\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSuitable for\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMoth owls (Australian owlet-nightjars) and other small hollow users — rosellas, ringtail possums, antechinus. Not suitable for boobook, barn or powerful owls, which need much larger boxes.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSiting\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eTree trunk or wall, 3–5 m up, entrance facing east or south-east, away from the hot afternoon sun and the prevailing weather\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBest time to put up\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eLate winter or early spring, so it has weathered before the September–December nesting season\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCare\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBrush it out once a year in late summer, February or March, through the hinged front\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMade by\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCol Brennan, Maldon, central Victoria — by hand, one at a time\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eRemaining stock\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e58 boxes. There is no second batch.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Handmade by Col Brennan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59099063124316,"sku":"BG-COL-OWLBOX-AU","price":76.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0903\/4081\/9292\/files\/au-owl-A1-studio-cream.jpg?v=1789209719","url":"https:\/\/backroad-goods.com\/products\/cols-hand-built-owl-box","provider":"BACKROAD GOODS","version":"1.0","type":"link"}