Saturday, March 1, 2014

Barn owls - Maree

Ink sketch and W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

I've been so lucky this past summer in having the barn owls in our blue gum bush again and I've had plenty of sightings during the day and been thrilled by their screeching at night. I've mostly spotted this one particular pair and I was so hoping to see babies but I have no idea where the nest is.

Barn owls are most commonly monogamous, although several reports of polygamy exist. Pairs typically remain together as long as both individuals live.

Courtship begins with display flights by males which are accompanied by advertising calls and chasing the female. During the chase, both the male and the female screech. The male will also hover with feet dangling in front of the perched female for several seconds; these are known as moth flights.

Copulation occurs every few minutes during the nest site search. Both sexes crouch down in front of each other to solicit copulation. The male mounts the female, grasps her neck, and balances with spread wings. Copulation continues with decreasing frequency throughout incubation and chick rearing.

.

10 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you Liz! I never got my notifications for comments this time round, will have to look into that!

      Delete
  2. These owls are beautiful Maree. Wonderful color you chose.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot Carol! The Owls are so soft-coloured themselves I just had to work lightly!

      Delete
  3. Maree, thank you so much, the information on courtship is a delight and so is your sketch! I haven't seen a barn owl in ages...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Kate, it is such a pity that we are seeing less and less of them...

      Delete
    2. Just wondering where they have all disappeared to. Surely not further into the bush, they like being around humans. That possibly means one thing - there are less of them...

      Delete
  4. I love barn owls … and you've captured them beautifully. Around here barn owls nest either in cavities in trees and they like old barns. When the young are still on the nest you could sit outside on a moonlit night and maybe figure out where they are nesting. I have a wonderful memory of a baby silhouetted against the almost dark sky and the parent coming in to feed. It was a monster snag with an appropriate crevice for the nest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Elva. It is really wonderful to see them at night. Here they most often use barns and outbuildings and I used to put up nest boxes in my garden, which were always occupied, but these days I'm looking for somebody young and agile to put up some new ones for me!

      Delete

We'd love to hear from you, your questions, comments, observations! Please feel free to comment, feedback is important to us.