Bird Cams eNews | Palomar Audubon Society

Owlets: See Them While You Still Can

The two young Great Horned Owls in Savannah, Georgia, are growing up fast. They’re not quite ready to fledge and fly off, but they are getting big enough that the nest is starting to get a little cramped. At about six weeks of age, young Great Horned Owls will start to move onto nearby branches; this is called “branching.”

The first owlet branched early in the morning on March 19th (watch highlight). As they both start to move out of the nest, they will walk around on the surrounding branches for another week or so.

Don’t miss your last chance to watch these beautiful owls take their first steps out into the greater world. Watch cam.

Cornell Hawks 2015 Season Begins

Cornell’s most watched Red-tailed Hawks, Big Red and Ezra, have returned to begin breeding. This year they are investing in their 2012 nest site, located about 200 meters from their nest of the last two years. A last-minute effort to get a new set of cams up on the old site required coordination from staff across campus, and the good news is that the installation was successful. Watch cam.

We typically don’t launch new cams on Fridays, because we have fewer resources to fix any issues that might arise over the weekend. However, it’s entirely possible that Big Red will lay her first egg soon, and we want you to have the best chance of seeing it happen. They’ve been visiting the nest off and on over the last week, and have been spotted mating atop nearby structures.

Chat will reopen in the coming weeks—till then, stay tuned to the cam as Big Red and Ezra prepare for the coming season. Thanks for watching!

Dance Like an Albatross

The Laysan Albatross Cam is streaming live from Kauai, Hawaii. The two chicks, Niau and Kala’i, are the stars, but every so often we’re treated to some spectacular dance moves from adults that wander in.

Albatrosses have a full repertoire of dance moves and will sometimes boogie in groups of three or four. This dancing is thought to reduce aggression between males and females and induce pair formation.

We’ve put together a fun video to help you learn to dance almost as well as a full-grown albatross—check it out.

The Return of the Blackbirds!

Red-winged Blackbirds have made their spring return here at Sapsucker Woods. Keep an eye (and ear) on the Cornell Lab FeederWatch cam; listen for their classic conk-la-ree trill, and see if you can spot flashes of red on black wings. We’ve also noticed a few Rusty Blackbirds hanging around the pond—who knows what you might find on screen?

Barn Owl Bliss

The Barn Owls that took up residence in a new nest box on a Texas ranch are showing promising signs for the upcoming breeding season. The male has been bringing prey animals to the nest in displays of courtship, and both birds have been cozily tucked in their nest box almost every day for the last few weeks. We’ve seen them mate a few times, and we hope to see them lay their first eggs sometime before the middle of April. Watch cam.