This is the story of how three barn owl chicks are so well cared for, they put aside usual sibling rivalry and develop an extraordinary bond.
Date filmed: July-August 2023
Watch Gylfie & Dryer interact live on my nest cam: • Live From Fotherdale |... and follow their story in this playlist: • Barn Owls 🦉 Gylfie & F...
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ABOUT THIS FILM
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Barn owls Thunder, Storm and Cloud
Named by fans of this channel, these barn owl chicks are 26, 22 and 20 days old and are the offspring of Gylfie and Dryer.
Barn owl chicks at 4 weeks
By this age the chicks can thermoregulate, which means they can maintain their own body temperature, and their mother Gylfie no longer needs to be in the nest all day, but she and her partner Dryer do need to keep the chicks fed.
Owl dad provides
Dryer does an incredible job hunting and delivering food, so much so that there is enough for Gylfie to snack on too!
Flapping practice
By August the chicks spend more and more time stretching their wings and pouncing around the nest practising their hunting techniques
Sibling support
One evening as Dryer delivers, I notice some unusual behaviour. The eldest chick Thunder passes the food to his younger sibling, Storm. And then I notice him do it again, clearly this altruism is a purposeful act
Leaving the nest
At 48 days old Thunder leaves the nest for the first time, but he doesn't venture far and soon returns to the safety of his siblings.
Flight preparation
But this barn owlet is nearly ready to go, but his siblings don’t want him to go and try to pull him down from the entrance and Thunder seems torn. The drive for independence is strong, but the steady supply of food and the company of his siblings are good reasons to stay.
Thunder adopts role of carer
Amazingly, this barn owlet seems to also have taken on the role of feeding his siblings too!
ID rings
Before the chicks fledge I'm joined by Jean Thorpe, from the Ryedale Rehabilitation centre, a British Trust for Ornithology licensed bird ringer. Each BTO ring has a unique number, and will enable us to track these birds throughout their life
Health checks
As Jean carefully fits the rings, I remind her that Dryer was an owl she rescued. This would have been impossible to know if Dryer didn’t have an ID ring
Owlets weight & sex
All three chicks weigh exactly the same, 390g, which is very healthy. Ringing these chicks also gives us an opportunity to try and sex these owl chicks. A pale facial disk and no sparkles indicates Thunder is probably male, whereas darker feathers, and sparkles let us know that Storm and Cloud are likely to be female.
It has been an amazing few months watching this barn owl pair raise their three chicks into healthy young barn owls and to see the eldest Thunder take his first steps outside.
Join me next time to watch Storm and Cloud follow in their brother’s footsteps and explore the area around their nest here in Fotherdale and get an unprecedented insight into a barn owl chick’s life after fledging as Storm and Cloud set up residence in Beech Stump and Storm even ventures over to Ash Wood!
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 may like to purchase my artwork: www.robertefuller.com. Many of my paintings are portraits of the characters you watch here!
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CHAPTERS
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00:00 Introduction
01:17 Learning To Stand
02:00 Home Alone
02:55 Dryer Providing
04:38 Gylfie Drops By
06:53 Sharing Food
07:58 Dryer Looks Outside
10:12 Thunder Fledges
10:42 Ringing
13:49 Recap and Next Time
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© Robert E Fuller
Copyright Disclaimer: Please feel free to share my videos but do not download any content without permission with the intent to re-upload. If you would like to license any content, please get in touch: mail@robertefuller.com