The barn owlets are developing well and the first fledging is expected in around ten days.

To exit the nest box they need to be able to fly up to the exit hole which is about 60cm above the floor of the box. The box depth is calculated so as to be difficult for them to exit before 56 days old. This is because if they leave the box too early, before they are good enough at flying to get back to the nest box, they will starve. Barn owl parents do not feed their young on the ground, they feed only those in or on the box. (This is different to tawny owls who find their young and feed them wherever they are).

The eldest owlet will be 56 days old just nine days from now. Expect to see a lot of wing exercising and attempted flying between now and then. Already I've seen the eldest one leave the bottom of the box briefly by flapping its wings.

Haven't they grown!

The photo at the top of the page shows the size of the wings of the eldest, a few days ago. The rest of the photos are in chronological order from early hatchlings (top) through to today (bottom) and show their growth.

For scale, the box is approximately 50cm front to back, and 65cm wide.

Initially small pink blobs, small enough to fit in an egg the size of a medium hen's egg, they quickly grew and developed white fluffy down to keep them warm.

The elder two are now nearly the same size as their parents. Their fluffed-up down is giving way to flatter flight-capable feathers, making the elder two (left on the bottom photo) look smaller than the younger two.

Wing exercising and stretching, and attempts at flight, occur any time day or night so look in on them using our live owl cam.