A $5000 grant will help volunteers build and install 15 owl nesting boxes across Bullsbrook, Chittering and the Swan Valley.

North Swan Landcare received the funding from Community Bank Bullsbrook-Ellenbrook and Bindoon for its Give a Hoot About Our Local Owls project.

About half the grant will pay for nesting-box materials, with the remainder supporting appearances by live birds at community education events.

Bullsbrook Community Men’s Shed volunteers will build five barn owl boxes and 10 smaller boobook boxes.

The barn owl boxes are planned for properties in Bullsbrook and Muchea where the birds were seen.

The boobook boxes will be installed at sites in Caversham, Bullsbrook, Chittering and Upper Swan.

North Swan Landcare member Lois Pearson said the private landholders involved had agreed not to use second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides.

These rodenticides can remain in poisoned rats and mice, placing owls and other animals at risk when they eat affected rodents.

In March, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority suspended registrations for products containing the chemicals for one year after finding their current use posed unacceptable risks to animals not targeted by the poison.

The regulator also began work towards tighter controls on who can buy and use the products.

The nesting-box project follows earlier Give a Hoot activities that began in 2022.

The original campaign brought together North Swan Landcare, local homeschooling families, Youth Action for Wildlife and young Bullsbrook volunteers to raise awareness about the effects of rodenticides on wildlife.

It was followed by the Big Challenge, a joint project between North Swan Landcare and the City of Swan that included community forums in Baskerville, Ellenbrook and Dayton.

The current project combines that education work with the construction and installation of nesting boxes.

About 60 people attended its latest owl event in Chittering on August 10.

Chittering residents Dylan, Levi and Olliver were children who met Olive, a southern boobook cared for by the WA Birds of Prey Centre.

“Olive was an orphaned boobook baby that was surrendered to the wildlife rehabilitation team at WA Birds of Prey Centre,” Ms Pearson said.

“She was very young when she arrived at the centre but too young to survive unaided by humans.

“Because she was human dependent for survival she has to remain in captivity.

“She was however most suitable in demeanour to become an educational bird, not all animals have a temperament suited to being an education animal, and is now an ambassador for her bird species.”