During the first month of their lives, barn owl chicks will double in weight every week. This chick has a fully developed down layer, and is old enough to be left alone by his mother. She can now go out to hunt herself, and relieve the male of part of his burden. (This chick has been temporarily removed from its nest box for inspection.) Groningen, Netherlands.
André Eijkenaar of the Dutch Barn Owl Working Group inspects a nest site in East Groningen. Thanks to the efforts of the Working Group, the number of breeding pairs in the Netherlands increased from around a hundred in the late seventies to some three thousand today.
