Wildlife biologist Sofi Hindmarch has banded three healthy owlets that were born this spring in the Earthwise Barn on the Southlands in Boundary Bay.
The Earthwise barn owls laid the first of their three eggs on Easter Sunday in the nesting box in the loft of the barn. Earthwise volunteers recorded the first egg hatching on the camera screen in the Earthwise Farm Store in the middle of May, followed closely by the other two.
The three barn owlets have been monitored on a daily basis by the volunteers and have grown rapidly.
Barn owls are threatened by the continued loss of foraging habitat and also by the loss of structures like old barns where they prefer to nest.
Seventeen barn owlets have now been banded at Earthwise in the last six years. Banding is an important tool to help biologists monitor the health of barn owl populations. Barn owls are recognized federally as a 'threatened' species in Canada and are “red-listed” in B.C.
Hindmarch expects the barn owlets to remain in the safety of the Earthwise Barn loft for the next four to five weeks. During this time they will come out of their nesting box and learn to fly in the security of the barn loft area.
Eventually they will join their parents to learn the skills of night time foraging before finally leaving their Earthwise home.
For updates on the Earthwise barn owls, visit the Earthwise Society Facebook page.
