anyone know much about them???? these two babies somehow got out of the nest (wind i think) and have been getting fed by both parents for a few days now. my friends fear is that something will "get" them at night large enough that mom and dad wont be able to fend off. the people who own the property called the DNR and they wont do anything, survival of the fittest. but there is one agency that will take the birds but you have to bring them in. with mom and dad around i'll bet they would put up a fight...... my suggestion was to just wait and see. any thoughts?
Interesting... Whats with all the feathers on the ground around them? Some sort of scuffle or something?
The feathers are likely from a previous dinner. They'll probably be fine. I would leave them. Two angry owls can chase off most predators.
Looks like baby great horned owls from the pic, they often try to fledge before they develop feathers to do so. Very common for great horned owls, best thing to do is just leave them as long as the parents are taking care of them.
I promise you that either momma or papa is watching closely from a perch. Ran into a similiar situation a few years ago while scouting for turkeys. I quickly backed out when one of the parents came flying in.
thanks for all of the suggestions! yes a video of me getting the crap pecked outta me would possibly get some hits! buttttttttt the pic is taken is Deerwood, MN too far of a hike in my nerver ending quest to have something go viral =-) i do have some drunken video of me with my pants hiked up imitating my father's dancing skills....ifffffffffffff this were the 60's leaving them would be best and i am getting word that mom and dad are still feeding the babies, big concern was the edge of the lake..... really no room to take off!
Thanks all for the feedback and suggestions. The owls are at my parent's lake house and yes, mama and papa owl have their nest perched high in a tree on the other side of the house and they can see them from where they are. One was originally about 50 yards away from the nesting tree, sitting at the base of a different tree for 2 days. Then he was gone. Next day, showed up about 100 yards down by the lakeshore, under a pine and had a sibling joining. I was relieved to hear that the two had found each other - stronger in higher numbers. Dad has been watching daily and I too suggested perhaps he "rescue" them and the thought of having his bald head talloned or his eyes pecked out didn't seem so appealing! If we get more pictures/updates, we'll be sure to pass them along. Pretty cool to be able to watch how this progresses and hopefully, they'll be flying on their own pretty soon!!
The owls are doing well, getting bigger and stronger! They are moving around and have mastered "hopping" onto the tree stump one at a time. Pretty wobbly on their feet once they're up there, but getting the hang of it. The other night Papa Owl dropped a duck for dinner. The carcass was all that remained and then later in the evening Papa Owl came back to clean up the carcass and remove it. They're flapping their wings a lot and moving into more open, less sheltered, areas of the yard.
That would be very cool to watch and experience... And here we are getting excited that a pair of robins are nesting on top of one of our downspouts beneath the roof ledge.
