Manzana’s New Nest Box

Manzana, our Barn Owl Avian Ambassador, has a new addition to her enclosure in the form of a nest box made by Robert, one of Teton Raptor Center’s dedicated volunteers. This incredible addition to her enclosure is part of ongoing efforts to create more enriching environments for all of the avian ambassadors. Many of our enclosures have also been updated with additional perches, large floor-to-ceiling trees, living plants, stones, and other natural items.

For Manzana’s enclosure, Robert designed the nest box to mimic a Barn Owl cavity nest with an interior perch and two panels on each side allowing the avian care team to open it for cleaning. Manzana took to it straight away and was exploring the nest box before it was even installed during her time wandering the hallway as part of her daily enrichment. By providing a cavity that mimics what she would utilize in the wild, this gives her the opportunity to express natural behaviors. As soon as the nest box was installed she spent the next few hours fast asleep within the cavity. It was also designed with a long platform on top for her to walk around, which has also been used by staff as a place to set a scale for Manzana to self-weigh. Self-weighing is a great voluntary method for gaining important health parameters on our birds.

Both avian ambassadors and staff are continually enriched by TRC’s amazing team of volunteers and are excited to continue to provide novel enrichment opportunities such as this nest box.