A pair of Barn Owls which have an apparent winter nest with three young was
found in a metal feed storage hopper on a farm near DeBusk Mill in Washington
Co., VA, Sunday (1/2). The bin is about 30 feet high.
According to information available this this may be the first winter nesting of
the Barn Owl in Virginia. Roger B. Clapp's "Egg Dates for Virginia Birds,"
published by the Virginia Society of Ornithology in 1997, makes no mention of
winter nesting in Virginia.
A nest with two young is listed for Feb. 1986 at Timberville, VA. in Rockingham
County in Clair Mellinger's book but Clapp does not recognize that record. Tony
Decker noted in "The Birds of Smyth County Virginia" (1999) that the species
nests all year but there are no such records to the best of my knowledge.
The nest was discovered by Wallace Coffey, Chris O'Bryan and Andy Jones while
participating in the Glade Spring Christmas Bird Count. This provided a total
of five owls for the count.
The discovery was prompted when we stopped near a dairy farm operation and
subsequently met the owner. The owner suggested that he had "fur balls" he
believed came from either a hawk or owl. He took Coffey to investigate inside
an equipment shed.
An extensive amount of whitewash and Barn Owl pellets were observed on the
floor and equipment under the mostly open shed. No owl was seen. While
observing the pellets and droppings, Coffey recognized the calling of young
Barn Owls coming from nearby. Just outside the shed, it seemed apparent the
food begging was coming from within a tall bin next to the building. The owner
said he had not observed any owls about the area but was willing to help us
search.
A ladder was carried to the bin and O'Bryan and the farmer climbed to the top
and looked down through an opening in the roof. O'Bryan was the first to reach
the opening and one adult Barn Owl flushed. We had a good look as it flew out
to the adjacent farmland.
O'Bryan reported that two adults and two apparent nestling of much smaller size
with brown feathers were perched on a crossbeam in the bin. One adults (most
likely the male) flew from the bin. Two young dropped deep into the bin where
a third smaller down white young was. The female flew down to the bottom and
attempted to cover and hide the youngest owls. The other two young (too big to
be brooded under the adult, in O'Bryan's opinion), crouched nearby.
Several digital photos were taken of the birds in the bin.
Barn owls can breed almost any time of the year, depending upon food supply
(Harris, M. and K. Bachynski. 2002. "Tyto alba" (On-line), Animal Diversity
Web. Accessed January 02, 2005 at
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Tyto_alba.html.)
All brooding is done by the female, beginning immediately after hatching and
lasting until the oldest young is about 25 days old.
Due to the fact that Barn Owls may lay eggs with 2 or more days between eggs,
we believe at this time that the two older young were from eggs laid earlier
and the smallets from the latest laid eggs. Female Barn Owls begin incubating
with the first egg and they hatch at different times.
Let's go birding....
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
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