Owlcam South Africa (live)

A live view from inside an owl nesting box located on a residential property in Pretoria, South Africa. There is unfortunately no audio, but the camera has full infra-red capability, so the interior of the box can be seen by day and by night.

During breeding season (nominally July through February), the owl box is used by a female Spotted Eagle Owl (Bubo Africanus). After mating, she will lay her eggs in the box and then take up residence to incubate them for approximately 31 days until the owlet(s) hatch. This is the third successive season that this particular owl pair have used this box. Last year (2015), one owlet - of two that hatched - reached adulthood.

This season (2016), the female laid her first egg on 24 July and the last (of three) on 31 July. She started incubation in earnest around 1 August, so we're hoping to see the first hatchling(s) on or around Thursday 1 September.

Whilst incubating the eggs she will typically leave the box only for very short periods to hunt. She can almost always be seen leaving the box for a short flight around sunset, which varies between 15:42/17:42 and 16:06/18:06 (GMT/SA time) on 1 August and 30 September respectively.

A word of warning : while it is fascinating to watch these magnificent birds from such close quarters, the chances of even one of these baby owls surviving to adulthood are rather slim. Food scarcity, commercial poisons ("rat poison"), dogs, cats, swimming pools and security fencing are just some of the dangers these little birds will have to face. As a result, these in-box scenes can sometimes be heartbreaking to watch. Nonetheless, I hope you derive as much enjoyment from watching these birds as I do.