Wildlife Structures

TCRCD is awarding wildlife structures to landowners who wish to support critical bird and bat species of foothill ecosystems and have suitable habitat on their property.

Priority Species:

• Bats
• Barn Owls
• Bluebirds
• Wood Ducks
• Kestrels, Hawks, Falcons, Eagles

Project Objectives Include:

• Provide vital nesting or roosting structures to encourage successful utilization of otherwise prime habitat conditions by priority species
• Encourage wildlife predatory pest control of unwanted rodents and insects by providing needed habitat components and reducing landowner use of rodenticides and pesticides
• Support the 17 bat species in the Central Sierra: Numerous species of bats in California are in decline primarily due to diminishing suitable nesting sites

Process:

1. Submit an Interest Form
2. Meet with RCD technical staff to discuss project criteria and characteristics of the property
3. RCD conducts a site-visit to assess habitat suitability for supporting a priority species
4. If the site is determined to meet habitat criteria, Amador Barn Owl Box Company will build and ship the structure with mounting hardware included
5. RCD distributes the structures along with installation instructions and best practices for proper use, maintenance, and monitoring
6. For structures with high use by priority species, still-frame motion cameras and live-streaming video cameras might be installed for monitoring and research purposes
7. The structure becomes the property of the landowner

Program funding provided in partnership by the California Wildlife Conservation Board and the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts through the Climate Resilience Through Habitat Restoration on California Lands Grant.