Barn Owl Nest Camera | Selecting A Nest Site – Robert E Fuller

Jan & Feb 2019 Update

Update: Barn Owls Find Love

What's new on the Barn Owl Nest Camera

Read on to follow the story of barn owls as they pair up and find a nest. They've even begun to dig a nest scrape inside the nest box .

Click here to find out the latest in their story on my March update.

And scroll down to see my paintings inspired by these owl studies.

February 22nd 2019

Barn Owls Settle Into Life at the Elm Stump

Loved-up Lives of Barn Owls

The barn owls have settled into a comfortable daily routine inside my nest box. Life at the Elm Stump involves re-digging and perfecting the nest scrape - it is predominantly the female who does this - stretching, fluffing out feathers and making love. Watch this short sequence for a flavour of the average day in the life of this barn owl pair.

https://youtu.be/0g_8_OI6rXk

Click the image above to play the video

February 20th 2019

Barn Owls Dig A Nest & Make Love

Courting Barn Owls

The barn owl pair is now mating. Hopefully this will mean eggs soon. Watch the clip above to see the female dig a nest scrape into the debris at the bottom of the nest box before they mate. Barn owls lay their eggs in scrapes rather than build their own nests.

https://youtu.be/-YyNyrUryPU

Click the image above to play the video

Barn Owls

How to Sex a Barn Owl

It isn't easy to tell the difference between male and female barn owls - unless they are sitting side by side as in the clips above and below. Females are always bigger and darker than males. They also have a distinctive buff-coloured throat and dark spots along their flanks. But even these signs are not exact indicators as this post from the Barn Owl Trust suggests.

February 19th 2019

Barn Owls in Love

Courting Barn Owls

I now have a pair inside my owl box! Interestingly they have chosen the box made out of an elm stump - the very same box they nested in last year. Watch the clip above to see them tenderly preening one another's facial discs. This behaviour is essential to establish a strong bond in advance of the breeding season.

https://youtu.be/-BWb4FNu_a8

Click the image above to play the video

January 30th 2019

Barn Owl Sees Off A Rival

Territorial Barn Owl Battles

Watch this barn owl stand its ground as it comes under attack from a tawny owl. Notice the way the barn owl spreads its wings out as the tawny approaches. This technique is known as 'mantling', literally adopting a mantle to make it look twice its size. It is now big enough to scare away the tawny. The bigger bird continues its attack, but the barn owl holds steady and eventually the tawny flies off.

https://youtu.be/SipzoC3RN3w

Click on the image above to play the video

Follow my other nest cameras:

Peregrine Nest Camera 2019: https://www.robertefuller.com/category/peregrine-nest-camera-2/

Enjoying this? You may also like my Tawny Owl Cam where I follow the daily lives of the tawny family that also live in my garden.

https://www.robertefuller.com/stories-from-inside-a-tawny-owl/

And my Kestrel Nest Cam, where again I follow the lives of a kestrel family.

https://www.robertefuller.com/stories-from-a-kestrel-nest/