For decades, the European little owl found shelter in the gaps of old roofs, the cracks in haylofts, and the openings left by the old materials used in country houses.
When Spain modernized its rural buildings and sealed every crack with industrial materials, those hiding places disappeared one by one. And with them, the little owls also began to disappear. Now there is a handmade response to this problem: the so-called little owl nesting tiles, ceramic pieces with a front opening and an interior cavity made to precisely fit Athene noctua, the scientific name of this small nocturnal bird of prey.
They are installed on farms, rural homes, and haylofts without damaging the roof structure or compromising its watertightness. And the benefit is not only for the bird: every little owl that nests there becomes a nighttime hunter of insects, voles, and rodents—a free form of pest control for the farmers who decided to give it a home again.
