Experts puzzled by birth of single owlet
Year 10 work experience student Toby Davies met the only chick when David Ramsden, OBE of the Barn Owl Trust came to do the annual ringing.
The unusual birth of a single barn own at the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, has captivated an online audience, with over 25,000 unique viewers following the owlet's daily antics.
The Heligan Estate has been home to breeding barn owls for over a decade. Each year sees between two and five chicks fledging into the local countryside. However, 2014 has been an exceptional year with the arrival of just one owlet.
David Ramsden OBE of the Barn Own Trust, said: “It is incredibly rare for barn owls to lay just one egg; they would normally lay several eggs and abandon the nest if they were unable to provide for them. To lay just one egg in a year of good food supply is virtually unheard of and cannot easily be explained.”
The female owlet weighed in a a very healthy 413g with a wingspan of 245mm. Several large feathers were found in the nest box which indicates that the adult female is moulting and is therefore unlikely to have another brood this season.
Heligan say that the owlet will stay in the nest box until she is ready to fledge - a gradual process starting when she is about eight weeks old. After fledging, the parents will feed the owlet close to the nestbox, or at a site nearby, until she is able to successfully hunt for herself.
To watch the owlet's antics and see her fledge into adulthood, go to www.heliganwild.com and click on the live webcams.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
