Sit back, relax, and enjoy the top moments from the Wild Bird Unlimited Barred Owl Cam's 2024 breeding season!

In late February, a pair of Barred Owls returned to their nest box in the woodlands of Indiana to begin the 2024 breeding season. The first egg’s arrival on February 26 marked the owls’ earliest start to the breeding season in cam history!

As the mates checked in with one another, the treetops rang out with their well-known calls of “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you–all?” On March 3, the female revealed her third and final egg of the season during a late-night incubation break.

During incubation, the male made sure his mate ate well, providing her an eclectic menu of snacks—like salamanders, crayfish, and flying squirrels.

At the end of March, the eggs started hatching when the chicks broke small holes called “pips” through their shells. By April 2, all three fluffy owlets had emerged from their eggs. The female kept her helpless hatchlings warm and safe, and she fed them small bites of prey to help them grow.

It was the male’s job to provide the groceries. This Eastern Gray Squirrel was enough for a family meal.

The owlets were named Midnight, Star, and Moon by the cam community.

After two weeks, the owlets were ready to try feeding on their own, and the female spent more time out of the box looking for food. The nest box felt smaller by the day as the energetic owlets grew larger and sprouted new feathers to replace their fluffy natal down.

By the end of April, the young owls started spending more time observing the world outside the nest box. Hours of contemplation were spent perched at the nest box entrance.

Star was the first to leave on May 2 after climbing to the top of the nest box. A brazen leap of faith led to the owlet flapping its way safely to the ground. Midnight took a different approach later that same evening. After hitching to the Pignut Hickory tree, the young owl climbed up, up, and away. Moon, the youngest, gained the courage to climb up the box and out of sight on May 4.

With the nest empty, the parents would spend their summer watching over their fledglings as they learned to hunt and fly. Thanks for watching and learning with us this season. We hope to see you and the owls again in 2025.

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: [ Ссылка ]

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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 [ Ссылка ].

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