Owl Babies

[debbyloo]

My baby owls fledged today - there seem to be five, and one egg that never hatched. They are too cute. A little smaller than the parents, a tuft of fuzz here and there, and colored pretty much just like the parents except maybe a tad more of a beige tint instead of snow white markings as on the parents. I am watching for the one wing raised begging behavior supposedly done by the babies but haven't seen it yet.
Wish I knew how to post pictures so everyone could see them!

Does anyone know how old they are before they can be sexed? I have a friend who wants a male out of this bunch.

[Sally H]

Congrats!

I'm still too afraid to look in the nests but the first couple who started sitting are spending alot of time off the nest which could correspond to the babies getting feathers or, of course, could be very bad news.

Of the three pairs, at least one successfully mated as there was a tossed hatchling when I returned this weekend. It was in the middle so no way to tell which nest it was from.

I'm waiting at least one more week before I try to see inside the nests.

[Thalia]

oh congrats to both of you!! but where are the pictures?

[debbyloo]

I'm sorry you found a tossed hatchling, but at least you know you have a fertile pair in there somewhere. I would not have known any of my owl eggs had hatched except that I heard some soft faint peeping now and then the first day or so after they hatched (only - after that, no noise to speak of). I could not see inside the nest, and so I could not observe feeding behavior directly. For a while I was worried that they were not feeding the young (especially since I could not hear any more peeping). The female seemed to be spending all her time in the nest, and the male was just being a bum hanging out on a perch chilling. But, I caught them switching off once and then the secret was out. One would be stocking up on food, and when ready to feed, would quickly swap places with the other one in the nest. They look just alike - it's confusing! And, they would not feed while I was watching. One or the other would perch directly below the nest and gaze up at the nest opening waiting for me to leave or at least look away. That would be the exact moment it disappeared into the nest. I only "caught" one going into the nest to feed maybe 2 or 3 times the whole time before the babies fledged. Both parents continued to sleep in the nest at night, and for the first few days, one or the other spent time in the nest brooding the young, presumably. And, I only heard the babies make any noise (a buzzing crickety cheeping sound) once or twice. I think the hen could "shush" them if she thought I was back in the room. Very secretive, I am telling you! I would be afraid to do a nest check, myself, for fear that they would abandon the babies. Are the parents eating any mealworms or egg food? Maybe you can figure out if there are babies by just being stealthy and spying on them, rather than risk fiddling with the nest and having them maybe abandon their attempt? This is only my second family of finches to raise, so I'm no expert, but I did have this pair abandon their eggs after I just quickly peeked through the back hole of the nest by standing on a chair by the cage. Another thing I noticed is that during this whole time of incubation/feeding young the parents have been very non-vocal and quiet too. The male has not been singing his little chuckling donkey braying song at all. They are just "incognito" Ha!

[Crystal]

Congrats!!