We are sad to report that one of the owlets died yesterday, likely due to lack of food and stress from the cold spell that blew in Sunday night and lingered during the last few nights. We went back and watched the recordings starting Saturday night. All 3 owlets appeared very active Saturday, and at least 8 geckos were brought after midnight, among other insect snacks. The eldest owlets seemed to get all but 1 of these geckos, but the young owlet seemed active and competitive for the food. Sunday during the day, he appeared a bit more listless than his 2 siblings, spending a lot of time lying down, as his older siblings did more walking around. The front began to blow in about 3pm Sunday, from when temperatures dropped from the 90s to the 60s within 2 hours. That night, temperatures dropped into the 50s. Mrs. Owl, who had in recent days been spending time in the entrance, or even out of the box, came back, and spent alternating periods down with the nestlings and in the entrance. The nestlings became inactive, and huddled in a group up against the plastic divider, where the camera and illuminators probably put out a bit of warmth.
Mrs. Owl left for over an hour from 7:29 to 8:38pm Sunday. Mrs. Owl hunted until just before 10pm, when she returned, and then stayed in the box, incubating the owlets. After 2 feedings before 10pm, no food arrived for the next 6 hours. During this time, as Mrs. Owl brooded the owlets, they wriggled a lot under her, probably competing for access to her warm naked brood patch on her chest and belly. This adaptation on female nesting birds, in which they lose feathers and grow extra blood vessels in their chests, helps them transfer warmth to eggs and nestlings.
It is unclear why Mr. Owl was unable to bring food for this long stretch. It is possible that the low temperatures had stilled the insect and reptile prey and made them hard to find. Even when food came, it was the much taller and more active larger siblings that claimed it. In all, there were only about 6 feedings that night, only 1 of which appeared to be a gecko, the rest insects.
But even so, by dawn Monday at 7am, after a whole night without food, the youngest owlet was still able to be active and beg for food. But he had to face a whole day in which the temperature never got out of the 50's. The day passed with Mrs. Owl and the owlets huddled against the plastic divider in the box, the owlets hidden under her body. By the time she left for 15 minutes at 8:19pm and returned with food, the third owlet appeared not to raise his head with as much vigor as his siblings. The 4 feedings that came in went to the larger siblings. Starting at 9:21, Mrs. Owl, who had been hunting, returned and began incubating the owlets again. Again, no food arrived for most of the night, from 9:19pm onwards for 9 hours. Mrs. Owl left at 4:43 Tuesday morning for 95 minutes. Perhaps she was trying to hunt and remedy the lack of food. This was a very cold time for the owlets to be left alone, as temperatures had dipped into the upper 40s by then. She returned successful at 6:18am with a large bird, perhaps a Blue Jay. It was probably already too late for the smallest owlet, who didn't seem to raise his head when the food arrived. The others clamored vigorously. Mrs. Owl proceeded to tear it up and feed it to them, but the youngest appeared to be off at the side away from where the feeding was happening. A 2-3 inch fish was brought about 6:47am, and Mrs. Owl received it and fed it to the older owlets. The youngest appeared at this stage to just be lying down, probably still alive, but quite weak. Mrs. Owl seemed to make no attempt to get him food. In the past, we have seen female parents specifically avoid the mouths of the recently fed owlets to get food shared around to all mouths. But perhaps she knew that the youngest was already doomed.
Mrs. Owl continued feeding the owlets from the prey bird on and off during the morning. The youngest owlet had disappeared from the camera's view, and was probably dead by this time. Mr. Owl brought an unusual daytime feeding of an anole lizard at 12:13 pm. The day warmed enough that Mrs. Owl stopped incubating, perched above on the rail, and even leaving the box for a little while.
By about 7pm Tuesday, it appeared that the two older siblings began to eat their younger nestmate. It has been documented that although Eastern Screech Owls will not kill a sibling, after it has been dead a while, it loses its status as family, and they consider it food.
Thus, life for the owls goes in, in the face of an uncertain food supply. It appears that feedings are increasing as the temperatures return back to more normal springtime levels. Hopefully it will be good news from now on.
Photos: 1st: All 3 owlets on Saturday, with the youngest in the middle.
2nd: A gecko brought for food.
3rd: An insect
4th: The large bird prey (possibly a Blue Jay judging by the dark and white tail feathers)
5th: The fish prey
6th: Huddling under mama's brood patch
7th: Owlet staring at the camera
8th: Owlet stretching its wings
The first owlet, on Thursday, May 19th, fledged just before sunset, about 8:15pm. He flew towards an oak tree at the back of the property. He didn't make it, landing in some tall ragweed stems that we hadn't trimmed since last year. This was good for him, as it gave him a staging ground to regroup for a second attempt at the tree. Without the stems, he might have ended up on the ground. At this stage, owlets don't have the muscle strength to do level flight or gain altitude. It is basically powered descent. But he made it to the lower oak limbs, and then climbed inside the branches to near the top of the tree before we lost sight of him.
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