after about 1 1/2 weeks of observing the barn owl family in the huge silver maple tree in our yard, yesterday morning we found one of the older birds dead on the ground under the tree. there appeared to be no cause of death. there wasn't a mark on it-just dead. i called twra and was referred to warner park nature center where they told me i could put the body in a plastic bag and into the freezer and deliver it soon to them and they would have it mounted and use it for training and education. that seems a fitting end for such a beautiful bird and certainly better than just burial as was first suggested. that left us with another adult bird and two younger adults probably from a previous hatch earlier this year. a couple came to view them last night and it seems that that was the last chance to see a grown barn owl here as today when we went out, the other grown (parent) was dead on the ground under the tree-again, not a mark on it. any ideas what is causing this? old age, deconned rodents, avian flu? i'll call twra again today and see what he has to say. now we're down to 2 older babies who've been hunting previously to help feed the little ones in the nest cavity. it's pretty apparent we'll have to rescue the littlest ones (we've yet to see them so don't know how many) as i doubt the older babies can take care of them. any ideas from anyone? such a sad day to add to the overwhelming sadness associated with the plight of those folks along the gulf coast. thanks for any suggestions you may have. p.s. because our elderly neighbor lady took a photo in 1994 of a barn owl in a tall shrub right outside her kitchen window (which is directly under the nest tree where the birds now live) we have reason to believe there have been barn owls in this tree for a long time tho we've not noticed them til recently, it may just be possible that these birds died simply of old age and that would be my hope i guess. we've only lived here a short time. jan donaldson watertown, TN SE wilson county