Female Barred Owl Drops Off Bird, Preens Owlets In The Nest Box - April 29, 2024

Watch the female arrive with a meal for her owlets on the Barred Owl Cam! After dropping off the meal, the female spends some quality time preening her youngsters before exiting the nest box.
Stay tuned for another amazing year watching the Wild Birds Unlimited Barred Owls. Watch live at allaboutbirds.org/barredowls for information, highlights, and a link to the outside view.
In 2023, the female laid the first egg on March 11, and it was a full 5 days later that she laid the second egg, on March 16. She had left the first egg un-incubated for most of the first couple days at near-freezing temperatures, so we're unsure whether it will still hatch. Since settling into full-time incubation around the 13th/14th, she has consistently been on the egg. This laying behavior is quite unusual compared to the super-consistent laying pattern we've seen at this site over the last decade, suggesting that this may be a new or inexperienced female or pair. On April 20, after incubating for around 34 days, the female abandoned the incubation effort and their breeding efforts are over for 2023.
Stay tuned and learn what happens alongside us and the rest of the cam community!
Interested in learning more about owls? Sign up for our self-paced, online course "The Wonderful World of Owls" from the Cornell Lab's Bird Academy: hubs.la/Q012pdgP0
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Jim Carpenter, President and CEO of Wild Birds Unlimited, has hosted a camera-equipped owl box in his wooded backyard since 1999. Set more than 30 feet high against the trunk of a pignut hickory tree, this Barred Owl box was first occupied in 2006. Since then, the box has hosted several nests, including successful attempts since 2013.
The camera system was updated in 2021 with a 1080p Axis P3375-LVE security camera and connected to Jim’s house via 200 feet of ethernet cable. To keep predators like raccoons from investigating the nest, aluminum flashing was wrapped around the tree. An infrared illuminator in the box means you can keep track of the owls’ comings and goings throughout the night (don’t worry-the light is invisible to the owls).
Since the birds aren’t banded, we can’t tell whether this is the same pair as in past years. Although male and female Barred Owls look alike in their plumage, females can be up to a third bigger than males. You can also tell the difference between them by watching their behavior; only the female incubates the eggs and chicks, but the male is responsible for the bulk of the feeding, ferrying prey items to the incubating female, and sharing them with her inside and outside of the box.
Learn more about Barred Owls in our AllAboutBirds Species Guide at www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/b....
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