Learning to be an Owl

WARNING: The following nature video contains graphic violence against a mouse. Mouse lovers and those with queasy stomachs may wish to consider waiting for the next video of cute babies.

Actually, it is not so bad. And it is very important for young owls to learn how to fend for themselves. Momma is letting them do that more and more even as they remain in the nest box. Mice are delivered and left to be picked apart by the young or fed to them during the day. This is only the second time I have seen one of the owlets take it upon him/herself to eat the whole thing alone. After they fledge, I will clean out the box and look for owlet pellets for use in nature classes. It will be fun to see if we can separate mice from voles.

Mother's Day

I have started recording with audio. It is unfortunately more noisy than I would like but I have managed to clean it up some. Here is a present to Momma Screech's followers for Mother's Day. She is a very dedicated mother; one who is rapidly being pushed out of her own nest box by her kids. I expect that within a few days, she will not even try to stay in during the day. Anyway, enjoy the following short video which has both Momma's voice, the screech owl "whinny" and the owlet "babble" sounds on it.

System Modifications

The technology of watching these Screech Owls has many components. The camera has sound but it has been too noisy to broadcast so I have had it turned off. I am hoping to either remedy that with the existing camera OR add a second camera outside the box with sound to pick up communications with Papa and maybe some owlet "babble". I will at least be posting some short, noisy, video shortly to give you some idea of the sounds involved in the screech owl nest box. Enjoy.

Busy Days

The last couple of days have been very busy for both me and the owls. I will try to find time over the weekend to put together another video of the feeding frenzy that takes place every time Momma or Papa delivers food to the box during the night. In the mean time watch the live feed from dark until about 10:00 for many very short visits to the nest box with food. Much of the food the last couple of nights has been earthworms--I was surprised at first, but I guess if they are good for baby robins, they should be good for owlets to--AND they love them.

The Star Ledger is preparing an article on nature cams and a photographer was here yesterday to take some photos. Fortunately he was patient. Papa was well hidden in an apple tree where he did not want to be seen or photographed without a lot of effort. Momma was in the box until the owlets started to pester her for food. Finally, she stuck her head out and the photographer got a couple of pretty good shots. Watch for the article (don't know exactly when but I will let you know).

The Eyes Have It

Here are just a few "Screen Grabs" from the last couple of nights. The owlets continue to grow and crowd Momma out of the nest box. Momma and Papa are doing all they can to keep the little mouths and stomachs full:

Momma:

Under Momma's Wing:

Hey Bro! You don't taste as good as a mouse:

Waiting Patiently:

Here comes a worm:

The nest box is getting very crowded during the day. Momma will probably start spending the days with Papa on a branch soon:

Of Mice and Moths

I did a detailed log of last night's feeding activity. Between Momma's first fly-out at 8:09 p.m. last night and her final return at 5:36 a.m. this morning, she left the nest box 24 times! As all of the accounts of screech owl feeding behavior report, this activity was concentrated during, but not exclusively limited to, the early evening hours and before dawn.

Between 8:09 and 9:45 she flew out 10 times returning each time with a small meal that she shared with the owlets. Although it was often very difficult to identify what she caught, I did catch one photo of a medium size moth:

Between 9:45 p.m. and 2:40 a.m., Momma only left the nest box twice. BUT, that was the time that Papa was most active delivering food to her including this large moth, probably a Polyphemus or Luna moth which are both flying now:

and 2 rodents:

Then from 2:40 to 5:36 a.m., Momma flew an additional 12 "missions" returning once with a mouse and the rest of the times with smaller prey.

Total food for the night (minimum): 4 rodents and at least 30 insects! And that doesn't count whatever Momma and Papa ate for themselves outside the view of the camera.

Eyes are Opening

The owlets are just about 1 week old now and their eyes are beginning to open.  As they do, they are also beginning to develop personalities.  Here is a short video from last night.  For the first 3 hours Momma did not return to sit in the box.  She returned with small food items and left within a minute each time.  This pattern allowed us lots of time to watch the owlets.