Little Owl - Netherlands / Beleef de Lente

[Kinderchick]

Mom is on the nest right now. She looks to be sleeping. Not sure if the chick has died yet. Does anyone know? Very sad circumstances.

[susha]

I got such a giggle last night as I watched the little chick running around the nest, falling over onto its back, then on its face, falling asleep for a few seconds before running round again...peeping away for its mom to return to the nest.  Thought all this was normal stuff and that mom was feeding it.  When I looked in earlier today, when mom was off the nest, the babe was moving so much more slowly and there was no peeping.  Too sad, knowing the baby won't survive.

[birdcamfan]

At the end of last year, they erected a tighter opening so that the crows and doves could not get into the "hallway" outside of the nestbox. Last year was a constant battle between the owls and their visitors as several pairs tried to lay eggs in the hallway. It has not been a factor this year and the visitors vacate as soon as Mrs or Mr Stoneowl poke their heads out and squawk.

[susha]

The visitor is still there and looks as though he/she is trying to get into the nestbox

[susha]

Oh no!  That's too sad!  I was watching the nest last night (early morning for them) and was intrigued by that roly poly little chick.  There was a visitor hanging around for quite awhile, looking into the nestbox and looking at times as though he/she wanted to visit mom and babe.  Looked like a dove.

I'll be very sad if that baby dies but it doesn't sound like there's much hope

[birdcamfan]

Latest post by the site moderator:

posted by: Ronald STONE / date: May 26, 2012, 8:39

Unfortunately, the male did not appear last night. The female has instinct for "chosen" not have to go hunting, but the young and the eggs remain. This means that the pup is still virtually no food had.

natural process - We expect them to go hunting today. The young will therefore not survive. Probably it will during the course of the day of death. We have seen that the female at a given moment of the dead young begins to eat, or even eat. That is a natural process that we include also the stork seen.

non-intervention - We have with the RSPB and other species groups agreed not to intervene. So we are not feeding. Each year failed a quarter of the owl nests, for several reasons. That one parent disappears (dies) is a common cause. It is very annoying every time to see, especially if the residents are involved in 'their' owls. And that is obviously true. We therefore understand the call for feeding. We stand behind the appointment just to look (and us to wonder about) to what is in front of the cameras going.

other eggs - We do not expect the other two eggs are hatching, before it's too long ago that the first young hatched crawled. At some point we collect the eggs to explore them.

Drop Clutch? - It happens that in this kind of situation a replacement clutch is started. Of course this is another male. That can sometimes go fast, we know from experience. We will have to wait and see if that will happen here, but we will certainly follow.

[birdcamfan]

Still one chick and two eggs.

[Kinderchick]

Oh no, that's too bad, bcf. Is there still only one chick or do you know?

[birdcamfan]

I had a good look at this active youngster. There is some worry at the site since the male has not been seen for a few days. The female owl broods exclusively and the male brings food. This female has had to leave the eggs and chick exposed in order to hunt and has only been able to bring back worms and larvae rather than mice. Without a steady supply of food and warmth, there is a worry that the eggs and/or chicks may not survive.

[birdcamfan]

The chick can be seen squirming under Mrs Stone Owl's butt. She is a bit nose down so the chick is under her but visible. It sure can move!

[birdcamfan]

I looked this morning but could only seem something squirming under her. I'll have to spend some time watching tonight. She is really glued to them isn't she?

[susha]

Just checked in to see if I could see a baby, but mom is staying tight on that nest.  She looked at the camera as if to say "What?!?"  Just want to see the chick, mom...

[Kinderchick]

Thanks for reminding us of this link, bcf. I have seen one little chick. Do you know if any others have hatched yet?

[susha]

Thanks for telling us about this, bcf.  I've been keeping my eye on Pa and the drama (or lack thereof) in his "closet", but now I'll be checking this nest as well...

[birdcamfan]

The Beleef de Lente site has featured a pair of Stone Owls (European Screech Owl) for a number of years. This pair of tiny owls has 3 eggs this year and the first one has just hatched. The chicks are very cute in a homely way but it is fun to watch them grow and morf into beautiful full grown owls.

Owl lovers can find this site at http://www.beleefdelente.nl/vogel/steenuil


From TPC:  Steenuil translates as "screech owl" however true screech owls are restricted to North America.  They have also been called Stone Owls which sounds neat but there actually isn't an owl species by that name.  These owls are technically Little Owls (Athene noctua) and they look alot like our Burrowing Owls.  Back to the screech owl part, it's possible that screech owl is a common name rather a technical name - like calling peregrine falcons "duck hawks".