Newly Hatched Barn Owl

Barn owl chick, two hours after hatching at a raptor rehabilitation center. We rarely receive eggs; this year, we've had eight already and a perfect hatch rate. The barn owls came from a nest that was interfering with agricultural property and had to be removed; other local species--like the Swainson's Hawk and Peregrine Falcon--are protected by the state and cannot be tampered with, which is good. Barn owls are plentiful, but it was nice that the property owner turned the eggs over instead of just destroying the nest.


The time and effort that volunteers and employees put into caring for young orphaned, injured, or relocated raptors that come into the center is phenomenal. This individual is still very young, but appears to be doing well.

Edit: She was released as a healthy young adult, along with all her siblings. Here's to a productive life and lots of rodents to eat!

24 hours old: [link]
Six days old: [link]
Eleven days old: [link]
Fifteen days old: [link]
Twenty-eight days old: [link]
Fifty-five days old: [link]
Seventy-two days old: [link]