See and Hear Barn Owl Family on Live Cam

I just spent half an hour watching barn owls—from my desk! Some bird lovers might consider that cheating, but I look at it as an opportunity to learn more about an incredible creature I’ve never seen before. Thanks to the Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary owl cam, anyone can watch and hear what this family is up to in their home in a tree on the 4,000-acre sanctuary in southeast Orange County, California.

The clip above from last January shows the pairs’ nightly mating ritual, after which the female chows down on a rat. Yum.

Click here to see what the owls are up to right now. If you give a hoot, consider putting your owl-cam watching to good use (message from the folks at Starr Ranch):

Is anyone interested in participating next year in carefully documenting 24/7 what these guys are up to (assuming they nest)? If so, just drop me an email at owlcam@starrranch.org and put “I’m in” in the subject. If I get critical mass, I’ll set it up and get back to you. This will not only be fun, but likely unprecedented. Each person would be provided an easy and standardized way to record observation and probably get a one hour "shift."

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