Rewilding our land in Portugal : adding a nesting box for the Little Owl

Our land here in Alentejo is home to many birds. We are lucky to have seen already 130 bird species! When it comes to owls, we have seen or heard the Barn Owl, the Long-eared Owl, the Tawny Owl, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl, and the most common of our area: the Little Owl.

It is a small owl with yellow eyes, white brows and white-spotted upperparts. It is mostly active from dusk to dawn, but can definitely be seen perched or flying during the day. The Little Owl is a resident species of many countries like Spain, Switzerland, France, etc.. Here in southern Portugal it is fairly common and it mainly nests in rock piles or ruins.

The Little Owl is a stunning little bird. With a mesmerizing look, powerful claws, and being a raptor, you could think of it as a good size owl. But it is actually about the size of a starling. Its wingspan is less than 60cm. Its diet consists of small mammals, large invertebrates like beetles and crickets, and small birds. To hunt, they perch on an elevated spot like a wooden post, a tree, or even a power line. Once they spot a prey, they swoop down to catch it with their claws or beak.

It is common in our area but only occasional on our land. We have seen a Little Owl only a couple of times so far, and hear one occasionally in the distance. So in our attempt to enrich the entire ecosystem of our private nature reserve, we have decided to install a Little Owl nesting box!

Instead of trying to build a nesting box, which we would probably have done poorly due to our very limited handy skills, we decided to contact the fantastic Associação Vita Nativa. This Portuguese non-profit environmental organisation aims to “promote the study and conservation of nature, the promotion and appreciation of natural heritage, and active participation in the defence of the environment and ecosystem services”. The work they do is really amazing, very precious, and one of the best ways to support them is to buy items from their online shop. So this is what we did, by buying many different nesting boxes. As they are wildlife experts, each nesting box type is designed and built to fit exactly the specific bird species needs.

Instead of getting the boxes delivered, we decided to go meet the association and pick up the boxes in Olhão where they are based. Back home, it was time to think about the best place to install our Little Owls’s nesting box. We wanted a place that we could see from the front of our house. We also thought that putting it in a rather and high open area could make sense.

Then, to maximize our chances for a pair of Little Owls to adopt our nesting box as their new home, we decided to make a big pile of rocks and nestle the box in it. We only took rocks from our land, and built it little by little, bucket of rocks after bucket of rocks. And with the help of a volunteer and now friend Maghen, we finished it in October 2025!

We are very very excited about it and now we can only hope that it will work!