Not much new going on with the owls. Pappa Owl is still doing an great job bringing in food. There’s been all kinds of snakes and mice treats. Both eggs still look to be doing well. Mamma is keeping them toasty, even with the cold weather the East Coast has been getting.
We should be close to hatch time as well. This coming weekend is the early point around when we can expect the babies to start poking out if their shells!
I finally saw a video of the moment where it almost ended before it really got started. I’d heard early on there was an incident with a Red Tailed Hawk, but I thought it was just an standoff. When I was looking for a site to try to Livestream to my tv, I came upon the video clip of what actually happened.
Momma got totally blindsided from behind by the hawk and knocked clear out of the nest. It was so fast, even the slow-mo hardly shows the actual hit! It could have been over just like that before the second egg was laid. It was even faster than I would have thought.
It’s very impressive, and I don’t begrudge the hawk, but I’m glad the owl didn’t sustain any more damage than losing some down and some wounded pride. I don’t even know if she could tell what had happened, she looks stunned .
Back on to some more fun stuff, the Hilton Head people have started posting fun owl baby facts:
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The chicks/owlets are altricial when they hatch- blind and naked
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Since the owlets can’t thermoregulate (keep themselves warm) the female remains at the nest nearly all the time for at least 1 to 2 weeks.
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The eyes remain closed for as long as ten days after they hatch so we have to wait a bit to watch them shuffle around the nest.
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The owlets weigh around 35 grams (1.2 oz.) when they hatch. Females tend to weigh slightly more than the males.
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The owlets are fed solely on meat. Voles and other rodents and rabbits are some of the most common food items.
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Even though the owlet is very small on day 1, the owlet grows at an astonishing rate, increasing their weight from around 30 to 50 grams to about 800 grams (males) to 1 KG (female) within just 25 to 30 days. This equates to as much as 30 to 33 grams (approximately 1 oz.) per day.
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Weight gain slows after 30 to 40 days or so. After approximately three weeks, the owlets are reasonably alert and mobile.
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By the time the owlets fledge (leave the nest), they are 75% of their adult size and weight.
That attack was insanely fast!
As alert as Momma Owl usually is, I was very surprised the hawk was able to sneak up on her like that. It’s very scary that things could be over that quickly.
I thought it was very admirable that she didn’t fly off to safety, but immediately got back on her egg.
It really did put it into perspective how quick things can happen. She didn’t waste anytime at all getting back to the nest! Amazing to see it in video and I’m glad it ended as good as it did.
I feel it’s hard to grasp the sense of danger there is to be a wild animal, as our lives are so different.
The closest thing I could come up with is if you could be struck by lightning any time 24/7 or if half the people on Earth could legally kill you for whatever reason they felt like.
The only actual sudden death thing I can think of is being hit by a car, but we actively walk into the street when we feel like, we don’t live in the street where we could be run over any moment.