Barn Owl Chicks Get ID Rings | Willow & Ghost | Robert E Fuller

Barn owls Willow & Ghosts three chicks are almost ready to fledge. But first they need their ID rings.

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Barn owl chicks at 7 weeks old

At 7 weeks old, these barn owl chicks are restless. The eldest two, Skye and Spirit, spend most of their time in the nest entrance.

Learning hunting skills

This means leaves the youngest barn owlet, Echo, with more space inside to explore and practise essential skills like headbobbing, which is how barn owls identify objects, and pouncing. These are the skills he will need to be able to hunt.

Flight feathers

When the eldest barn owl chick, Skye, comes back inside you can see her flight feathers have grown through underneath the fluffy down that kept her warm as a tiny chick.

Home alone: parent owls now only feed at night

The parent owls Willow and Ghost now only visit the nest overnight to bring food. The rest of the time these chicks are home alone.

Sibling care

Its interesting to see how the eldest take over the care of their youngest sibling, preening Echo and providing plenty of attention.

First fledge

By mid April Skye, the eldest barn owl leaves the nest for the very first time. But she doesn’t go far. Barn owls usually return to the nest after fledging, as they still get fed there. After jumping around, exploring… She’s soon back in the nest.

Bird ringing day

This is a good thing because today is bird ringing day, when Jean Thorpe of Ryedale Rehabilitation is arriving to clip British Trust for Ornithology identification tags onto their legs.

Weighing and measuring

This is also an opportunity to weigh, sex, and measure the barn owlets so that we have a record of them and can keep track of their movements throughout their wild lives.

Owlet Skye is female

The dark markings around her face and sparkle effect on her breast is a clear indicator that that the eldest owlet, Skye, is a female.

Barn owl talons

Having the owls out of the nest gives me an opportunity to admire them, and to show you how ingenious barn owl talons are. The two claws fit together like a jigsaw so that when the owls are hunting they don't catch their own talons!

Echo the owlet's female markings

When it's Echo's turn to be ringed there is an opportunity to show you how to identify female barn owls from males since she has perfect 'sparkle's under her wing and on her breast and a dark outline of feathers along her facial disc.

Three barn owlets together

When you see the three barn owl chicks together you can really tell the differences between male and female barn owls.

Next time

Join me again next time to see these three barn owlets fledge and find out just how well their owl parents Willow & Ghost have taken care of them.

*ABOUT ME*
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I am a British wildlife artist and filmmaker on a mission to share my love for wildlife with the world. As well as creating detailed animal film and art portraits, I promote wildlife tours around the world and do all I can to help conserve and protect wildlife here at my home in Yorkshire. I hope that by putting nature in the frame I can foster a deep love for wildlife amongst my followers.

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*CHAPTERS*
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00:00 Barn Owl Chicks at 7 Weeks
00:14 Learn Hunt Skills
00:53 Flight Feathers
01:16 Parent Owls Feed at Night
01:38 Owl Siblings Care for One Another
02:47 First fledge
03:50 Bird Ringing Day
05:10 Weighing Spirit the Barn Owl Chick
05:28 Spirit is Male
06:08 All About Bird ID Tags
06:40 Barn Owlet Skye is Female
06:48 Barn Owl Talons Shaped for the Hunt
07:30 Barn Owl Chick Echo's Female Markings
08:15 Spot Differences Between Male & Female Barn Owls

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© Robert E Fuller

#robertefuller #barnowl #owls

[RobertEFuller]

I hope you've enjoyed the video!

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[mbgal]

They’re so beautiful. I’m always so shocked to see how docile and calm they are while you handle and hold them to get their rings. So adorable.

[Arzon]

Ah yes, the rite of passage for all birds on this channel, Ring Day. Amazing videos you do, love every single one of them

[Ragetiger]

So cute. Skye, Spirit, and Echo do remind me a bit of Cinnamon, Ginger, and Clove when the three of them were at the entrance looking out.

[dagmarkunzel]

Did you see that Mrs Jean Thorpe is losing a lot of fluff? Soon she will fly away. How good that she was able to ring the beautiful owlets. Thanks REF for the great video.

[tbascoebuzz]

It’s surprising to me how caring they are with one another. I did not know this. I’ve watched eagles and Osprey chicks. They can get very aggressive with one another, establishing their pecking order and competing for food. Sadly sometimes unto death. But owls don’t appear to be this way at all. It’s quite wonderful. Thank you for this delightful video. Upward and onward they go. Blessings…

[CMK]

The ultimate safety tactic for barn owlets - pretend you’re a loaf of bread 🤣

[markadams]

Fantastic closing shot of all 3 peering at the world from the nest entrance.

[gingertea]

So enjoyable to watch - they are just beautiful ❤💗💗

[KYLOWW]

0:26 The head bopping was my favorite part it lets them know they are in the groove to explore their surroundings.

[corgilove]

This was truly fantastic. WOW these little guys are almost ready to start the next leg of their journey. Fly high and safe little owlets 💕💕💕🌈🌈🌈

[phoebeflagg]

Beautiful documentary. Thank you for all you do.

[electriclllady]

Oh my gosh they're so beautiful!!!! Skye Spirit and Echo - what gorgeous markings and so fascinating to know and see their beautiful speckles and 'sparkles' and dark facial discs define them as females!!!! And what beautiful females they are, darling Skye and Echo, and what a beautiful male Spirit is!!!! That's so interesting to see and know about their little feet!!! So perfect 😻🥰😍💕💖💗 🐤🐣🦉🐥🦉 Spirit Skye and Echo are perfect - and so soft and fluffy! You and Jean got so much down on you I was surprised you didn't sneeze!!! That's so interesting to know that they return to the nest after fledging 💕💖💗 They really are beautiful family units💖💕💗
Thank you for doing such dedicated work to educate us all, filming, monitoring amd creating these videos ! 💕💖💗🦉🐥🐣🐤😍🥰😻💜 I'm so fascinated with all of the footage kf them, especially wjrn we get to see them in daylight when you weigh and tag them and see all their beautiful feathers and markings so clearly xxxx💖😻💕😍💗🐤🐣🐥🦉💖💕💗🥰😻😍🪶🪶🪶🪶 For overseas viewers could you say which season April etc is (whenever your videos take place) to educate us on the season as well that these various things are happening in 😊 thank you xxxx
And thank you for always saying about the licensed tagger Jean and which database they're on. It's so important that this information is included each time so noone gets the wrong idea and thinks that anyone can tag them.

[RavenNl]

Fantastic. Enjoy seeing these owls and growing.

[Blazegothica]

8:24 the one on the right looks dead on the inside. LOL sooo adorable!

[johnhickson]

Excellent film I just love the head bobbing 😁👍

[sydneymomma]

Oh, I've been excitedly waiting for this video! Thank you for including us in the naming of the owlets, I'm such a proud Momma when chatting them up to people! Thank you as always to you and everyone involved for the dedication not only to the wildlife you steward, and also for the high quality footage and production value of all your works. 💖

[gioric]

Amazing, can't wait to see these young barn owls finally living on their own making new families

[bononoooooo]

It’s so cute when they tried to bite Robert.

[michelecherre]

Always amazed at how calm these birds are when they get their bands