08/05/2026
Just imagine — it’s a warm summer day, you travel to a barn, find and then open a (slightly smelly) nesting box, just to have some fluffy owls with giant eyes hiss at you.
Well, my friends, you just found yourself some barn owl chicks and that’s exactly what our Southwest interns got to experience this summer when they tagged along with biologist, Tammy C**t.
That day, our team banded six barn owlets, three more than last year from the same nesting box. In fact, this nesting box has been active since 2019!
Banding owlets is a delicate process, and when you have sharp talons and beaks to deal with, it makes it even more challenging.
First, the owlets are carefully transported from the box in soft bags to help keep them calm. Then they are individually weighed, banded, measured, and aged. Ages of owls are estimated by comparing photos of nestlings at certain ages and by the measurement of their 7th primary wing feather.
Because barn owls are considered near-threatened species of greatest conservation need, occasionally down feathers are pulled for DNA analysis, and blood is drawn to test environmental toxins like rodenticides.
The team often will also collect owl pellets from the nesting box to help us better understand their diet.
Across our state, our agency has been working with private landowners to protect barn owl nesting sites and study these charismatic birds. Barn owl banding helps biologists track populations, lifespan, migration, and more.
To learn more about barn owls and how you can do your part for the species, visit: https://bit.ly/PAbarnowls.
