 The live video camera feed showing the adult female incubating her new clutch of 3 eggs.
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Last week, after the second egg was laid by the female Barred Owl, the Wild Birds Unlimited (WBU) live video feed was activated online, and Thursday a third egg was laid, making this spring’s clutch complete. The big nest box used by the Barred Owls has hosted a series of successful nesting attempts during recent years, and you can check on the incubating female live, day or night. You can also watch interesting video highlights from last year to see what to expect in coming weeks as the owl nestlings hatch, grow, and develop toward fledging.
Actually, the WBU live feed is not one camera, but 2 live cams – one showing the inside of the nest box, where the female is currently incubating the clutch of 3 eggs. The second live camera is focused outside, showing the entire big nest box in its woodland setting. On this live cam you can watch for the male Barred Owl to bring food to the female during incubation, and to feed nestlings after they hatch. Later in the season, you can see the nestlings begin looking outside the entrance hole of the nest box prior to branching and fledging.
This year, the female Barred Owl was initially observed investigating the big nest box February 6th. She laid her first egg February 27, which is about 10 days earlier than prior years. The second egg was laid March 1st, and although 2 eggs is often a full clutch among Barred Owls, this female laid a third egg on March 4th. Incubation typically lasts 28 to 33 days from when the first egg is laid, which suggests the first nestling may hatch by the end of March, and that’s when the fun begins for nest cam viewers.
When you view the big nest box on the outside cam, you will quickly notice that this is not a new nest box. For almost 20 years the WBU Barred Owl Cam has been hosted in the wooded backyard of Jim Carpenter, the founder & CEO of Wild Birds Unlimited. In addition, it’s important to note that we birders sometimes need a lot of patience to attract a pair of larger cavity nesting birds to a big nest box. In this case, it took 8 years before a pair of Barred Owls first claimed the nest site, but owls have claimed it ever since.
The WBU Barred Owl Cam is a partnership between Wild Birds Unlimited and The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and can be viewed anytime, day or night, at WBU Barred Owl Cam | Interior and Exterior Owl Nest Box Camera Views | Wild Birds Unlimited
To learn more about Barred Owls, see the Cornell Lab’s website at Barred Owl Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
You can learn more about the history of this big nest box, which was first installed in 1998, including a view of the building and installation of the productive Barred Owl facility at The WBU Owl Box Story - Wild Birds Unlimited | Wild Birds Unlimited.
You can also review the video highlights from the past 4 years of successful Barred Owl nesting attempts at Jim’s big nest box at Owl Cam Highlights - Wild Birds Unlimited | Wild Birds Unlimited (wbu.com)