Barn Owl Camera

Barn owls are invaluable hunters, especially for controlling the voles that threaten our fruit trees. During breeding season, a single family of barn owls can devour up to 3,000 rodents, bringing our ecosystem the service of organic pest management. Barn owl populations are declining due to habitat loss, so wildlife biologists from the PA Game Commission monitor their nests. Each year, the young owls are banded to track their movements and estimate their lifespan. By contributing to their conservation, we hope to further develop barn owl research and encourage increased barn owl populations across Pennsylvania.

After the owlets are full-grown in the summer, the barn owls do not actively use a nest box for the remainder of the year. We have turned off the nest box camera until they return to raise another clutch of young in the late winter or spring.