Ten years ago, you didn't see too many barn owls prowling the skies in West Virginia. Now the birds are flourishing. Here's more on the DNR's study on these unique birds.
July 26, 2006
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice
EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO C L I C K T O P L A Y
This is a baby barn owl. It's about two months old and will be leaving the nest any day. Where it goes from here is anybody's guess. That's why the DNR is studying these beautiful birds.
"Up until fairly recently, the last 5 or 6 years, there were only a few records of barn owls in the state, most of which were historic. In the last 5 or 6 years, we've quadrupled the number that we know of in the state."
"The DNR's monitoring about 6 of these sites-almost all are in silos and once they find sign of a barn owl, like these pellets, they'll put a nesting box in here and that's a good safe habitat for the owls and they really take to it."
"The box has a top, a hinged lid you can reach in and clean the box out. There's a square hole in the front and a porch in the front where they leave food and the young come out and eat it there."
Biologists have found out if there is enough food, the same pair of owls will sometimes actually raise two families of fledglings.
"We've actually documented the same pair having two groups of young in 2 locations about 3/4 mile apart at the same time, staggered. You'll have one group 2 or 3 weeks older than the other one. The case I'm talking about was in Hardy County. The 1st were 7 chicks, the other 6.
And since most all of the chicks typically survive and leave the nest, the population of healthy barn owls is increasing in the Mountain State.
Send email to news@wchstv.com for information or comments concerning WCHS-TV Eyewitness News.
