Barn Owl Babies

These two young Barn Owl babies were taken from a farm building in rural Dyer County not far outside of Halls, Tennessee. They were less than a week old when recovered, and are now about two weeks old. Unfortunately there
were at least four other eggs in the nest that were destroyed when these two were removed. The building was being demolished and the owner did not want to wait until the young were old enough to fledge. A local vet kept the birds for a few days before they were picked up and delivered to the Raptor Rehabilitation Program at the Memphis Zoo & Aquarium. As soon as this photo was taken the young were placed in a nest box with two foster parents. A pair of non-releaseable Barn Owls are kept at the zoo to be used as foster parents. They generally raise two clutches of "orphans" a year.

In 1998 a total of 19 orphaned or abandoned Barn Owls were raised and released by the Memphis Rehab Program. The first group arrived on March 14, 1998, and they continued to arrive until the last two came in on December 30th! In the Mid-South area the Barn Owls will breed all year long if the weather is mild. Our winters for the past several years have been mild enough to allow the owls to double or even triple clutch.

The Barn Owl was once a common bird across the state, but since World War II their numbers have gradually fallen. The agricultural pattern in Tennessee in the years before World War II was for small family farms that grew mainly feed crops. This all changed after the war, and the small farm gradually disappeared. More large agri-farms came along. Their main crops were row crops like cotton, soybeans, and corn. The owls had a hard time adjusting to the severe loss of pastures as well as suitable outbuildings for nesting. While there is still a critical shortage of suitable habitat across the state it seems that the birds are making a slight comeback, at least in West Tennessee. Many areas of the region have good numbers of owls, and the Memphis Zoo continues to release the orphans in suitable habitat around the area. Hopefully the numbers of Barn Owls will continue to stabilize, and with the help of educational programs pointing out the benefits provided by Barn Owls, their numbers may even begin a slow rise.