Observations on the Post-fledging Period of the Barn Owl 'Tyto alba'

Abstract

Observations at a nest of the Barn Owl 'Tyto alba' in northern New South Wales revealed that juveniles were dependent and remained in the nest area for 3 weeks after fledging. Siblings stayed together into their second week out of the nest. Juveniles roosted in the nest area in the first two weeks and remote from the nest in the third week, and returned to the nest area at night to beg for food; they did not accompany their foraging parents at this stage.