The Secret World of Little Owls: Courtship & Early Nesting | Discover Wildlife | Robert E Fuller

Little Owls: This short film follows my quest as a wildlife artist to film little owls inside their nest.

*JOIN MY MISSION*
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*ABOUT THIS FILM*
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Artist's quest

As a wildlife artist, I like to get to know my subjects well so that I can convey their individual characters in my paintings. Little owls have always been one of my favourite birds to watch, but I’ve never been able to film their secret lives inside the nest.

Creating habitat

Attracting a little owl

Within four days, a little owl turned up to inspect my nest and I watched with baited breath as he brought his mate to see what she thought of it.

Signs the little owl pair may lay eggs

When the female shuffled her body down and began to dig a nesting scrape into the bottom of the nest, I really thought she could choose to lay her eggs here! The pair seemed to really like it, they spent their days keeping guard and their nights mating on perches I built outside… although things didn't always go to plan!

Competition

But nest sites are in short supply, and soon a young male kestrel showed an interest in the site.

Little owl defence

When the kestrel pinched the little owl's food, the little owl decided to take action. A little owl is much smaller than a kestrel, but it is fierce and after a tense standoff it was the larger kestrel that retreated.

A new box

The kestrel needed a nest, so I designed a new, more spacious, box with him in mind. And sure enough the kestrel seemed to like it - watch as he nods his head! But it's not long before this new site is up, it catches the little owl's eye.

And another clash

Little owls will usually choose small, dark spaces so I was surprised to see them in this large, light nest site. But they seem delighted and I got to watch some beautiful courtship behaviour. In fact they seem to like it so much they fought the kestrel for it - and a barn owl that also showed an interest.

Little owl attack

The little owl is a fierce fighter. Incredibly it grabbed a barn owl twice its size and yanked it out of the box.

The pair move on

Then, after all that, the little owls decided not to nest here. Perhaps they felt the competition was too fierce. Either way I haven't seen the female for some time so I think she must have laid her eggs elsewhere.

Looking out for chicks

Wherever they are nesting, I hope they have a healthy brood and I’ll be keeping a close eye out for chicks. I didn't get to watch them raise their young inside the nest, but I've enjoyed a privileged view into their secret courtship.

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*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.

You can also follow me on these platforms:

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© Robert E Fuller

#robertefuller #littleowl #owl #discoverwildlife

[RobertEFuller]

I hope you've enjoyed the video!

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[Lonesome__Dove]

The way the little owl looked at the camera after his mouse came up missing was like "did you take my food ?"

[awesomebiscuits]

“This Kestrel takes an immediate liking to the nest box”
4:18
Kestrel: Nods it’s head in approval

[joshkoshbgosh]

3:20 “…his mouse is gone!”
Little Owl: *Do you know anything about this?*

[okalsdi]

4:18 I love how he nods his head. "Yeah. Dis oke."

[deeler]

4:16 : "This Kestrel takes an immediate liking to the nest box"
Kestrel : "Yessir"

[Stefanie]

The little owl is my favorite owl, it has the most expressive facial expressions 🥰🥰🥰

[srn]

the beginning was so romantic when he invited them together and stood together watching the sunset

[crazycatzg]

3:19 “His mouse is gone”
Owl: *surprise pikachu face *

[bean]

I love how patient he was with his mate. She didn’t like the second best and he just kinda went after her like “ok-“

[MrSkateAndWatch]

4:15 - 4:19
I love how the kestrel nods to the narrator

[jkb]

It’s like the owls going house shopping 😂

Female: “ooh I like this one. Look how spacious it is!”
Male: stressing about the mortgage payment

[Nightfingers]

Maybe it's the cameras Mrs Little Owl didn't like? She clearly reacted to them.

[shadylady]

1:03 Dove: minding his own business
Little owl: And I took that personally... 😡

[Laura-P]

You're such a wonderful person to respect and care for nature as much as you do. May God continue to bless you for your kindness. Thank you 💖

[CelestiTheth]

The housing market is tough right now, even for birds.

[YvonneWilson]

Wonderful footage - what a privilege to see this intimate behaviour. Thank you so much, Robert. When I was about nine, a little owl made her nest in the big horse chestnut tree next door. She appeared to be raising her lone chick on her own - we never saw the male and had no idea about number of chicks until just the one emerged. My father bought rabbit meat to help her out and left it on the roof of an outbuilding. One day the chick branched and sidled along the dividing wall between the gardens. I stared at him in wonder. The chick stared back. And then, ever so slowly, he blinked a blink such as I had never seen before. Thus began my love affair with these amazing, beautiful, clever little birds.

[kamikaze]

I hope that Kestrel and Barn Owl managed to find good homes. There all so precious

[azinegg]

My heart melts when we see them disappearing down their little corridor” so so so cute” thank you for all you do for these little wonders.

[lindyp]

Oh this is wonderful!! You have such a talent for telling a story and the music is spot on. Thank you for all your hard work and allowing us to peek into the lives of these adorable Little Owls🤗