Owls are nocturnal organisms and do not build their own nests so they select nesting sites. Nesting site selection varies among species, usually at the edge of rocky-mountains, with varying floral diversity; dominated by shrubs. In the present study, 31 nests of the four owl species; Eurasian eagle owl, Spotted owlets, Barn owls, and Spotted owlet sub-species were recorded from eight localities in Swat valley from January to October 2019. All the nests were located in holes and crevices of the rocky cliffs, rocky canyons, mud cliffs, mountain slope and man-made structures. However, no nest was observed in snags. There was a significant variation in the nested holes and crevices sizes, due to body size variations. Eurasian eagle owls nested in cliffs with a mean height of 12.99±6.64m and nests were located at an average height of 8.14±5.00m. Most of the nesting cliffs were facing the east and southwest. Spotted owlets had an average height of the nested cliffs were 10.20±3.33m with the mean height of 5.75±2.10m and nesting cliffs mostly faced southwest. The nested cliff mean height of the Spotted owlet sub-species was 8.64±0.52m and the height of the fort wall was 3.57m. Barn owls nested cliff height was 12.80m, the nest was located 7.92m above the main ground level and cliff-faced the southwest. It was concluded that the owl species were selective in their nesting sites, preferably choosing sites, where food is abundant and easily accessible, having rare chances of predation and frequently facing the sun. 

Index Terms- Owl, nest site characteristics, nesting habitats, Swat