There are some strange behaviours going on across the barn owl community in the south of England at the moment. At a time when most owls should have paired off, and even have started laying eggs, there appears to be a reluctance to get started this year. So let’s take a quick look at what SHOULD be happening.

Laying eggs should start in April but can happen much later, so just now there should be no cause for alarm. Courtship in earnest, starts some 10 days before laying and two days before laying, the female settles into her ‘nest’. In boxes, this tends to be on a layer of pellets, droppings and the remains of prey. She will feed outside the box but a diligent male will be bringing back ‘inducements’ long before she finally settles down in those last two days.

So what is different this year? We know that barn owls often start breeding early in ‘rodent years’. But despite monitoring several boxes from the Blackdowns to the Surrey Hills, boxes have not been used, or courtship behaviour has been half-hearted and there has been very little sign of mating.

Reflecting on those cold damp days that existed in March and early April, it is no surprise that barn owls have delayed their breeding until there are signs that nights will be dry and hunting rodents can be sustained. There is a better chance with late breeding that there will be plenty of food to sustain the owlets when they start hatching every two days, 30 days later.

The Blackdown pair have plenty of time in hand but lets hope that they don’t keep us waiting TOO long!

You can watch Finn and Trude on the livestream here.