Barn Owls Online Camera

 

The broadcating is over.

 

Thanks to our viewers all around the world!

 

See you in 2012 nesting season

 

 

 

 

In loving memory of Peggy Sporn. A devoted friend of Israel and its feathered denizens and visitors

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Webcams


Photo: Amir Ezer




 

  • The last nesting season was extraordinary - the Barn Owls had 3 broods of chicks!
    The first brood started on Jan. 3rd 2010, the second on May 6th and the third on July 27th.
    This is a very rare phenomenon, which we believe is derived from the abundance of rodents in the agricultural fields in Bet Shean Valley





Tirat Tzvi camera – Introduction

 

Big Brother, the feathered and winged version:


At the initiative of the International Center for the Study of Bird Migration at Latrun, jointly run by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) and the Tel Aviv University, and the SPNI's Israel Ornithological Center (IOC), it is possible to watch the direct broadcast, 24 x 7, of the "bedroom" of a pair of Barn Owls nesting in a water tower on Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi. Besides the usual webcam which broadcasts during the day, for the first time an Infra-Red camera has been installed which enables the viewing of the nightlife of the owls. Barn Owls are nocturnal raptors primarily active at night.


In addition a sensitive microphone was installed in the nest, making audible the vocal communication between the chicks and their parents, and the unique calls of the Barn Owls which sound like asthma patients. These scary sounds are the source of the ancient traditions which consider Barn Owls specifically, and owls in general, as the harbingers of ill fortune.


According to Dr. Yossi Leshem, the Director of the International Center for the Study of Bird Migration at Latrun, jointly run by the SPNI and the Tel Aviv University, the camera in the owls' nest constitutes part of the educational activities and publicity for farmers and the general public, with the aim of expanding the application of environment-friendly agriculture.

 

>Read more - The Barn Owl and Kestrel as biological pest control agents in agriculture...


 


Ringing in Tirat Tzvi and Nir David - Introduction

 

The ringing started at Tirat Zvi's Water-Tower, back in 1973, with the initiative of Ofer Shimoni. He brought Shalom Zo-Aretz, and both a chick and a mature bird were ringed, according to the registry at the ringing center. Then there was an intermission, until this veteran nesting came to my attention (Meir Ariel).

 

Starting 2002, there was a continuum of bird-ringing, with a touching story, where the mother kept to herself at the feeding period, and the chicks where removed from the nest, to be taken care of by live-stock women. The was a total of 31 bird-ringing, including 2 adults, the last was a female last year (2009), which was rang by Shauli Aviel in Sde Eliyau, a few years prior.

 

At the Culture House in Nir David, the first ringing was at the season of 1985. A season later only the female was rang, by means of capturing with the help of B.C. Since, I returned to the place only at 1995 with the help of the palm trees people and their crane, and later, we were there at the season of 2007. Then began the first cycle, similar to what we found this year (2010) and the second cycle was rang at the beginning of July.

 

Last year I was helped by Amir Ezer, and this year, according to the signs we will again have a first cycle, which the chicks were ringed by Motti Charter on they're belly. According to amount of pellets in both places, we can see it is a nest with very long history. According to my experience, if there will be a second cycle, the imposition of the eggs happens at the stage when the chicks of the first cycle are already feathered, but haven't fledged yet. The mother broods at their side, a situation I've seen at the past in the boxes.


Placing the Camera

 

In 2010, Barn Owl researcher Dr. Motti Charter and Barn Owl ringer Kobi Meyrom found a Barn Owl nest below the rooftop of the Culture Hall at Kibbutz Nir David, Beit Shean Valley (northern Israel).

They immediately went on to place a webcam in the nest, in order to follow the nesting season online.

Join us and follow the current nesting season!

 

Dr. Motti Charter climbing up the ladder to reach the nest.

 

Kobi Meyrom, member of Kibbutz Nir David, supervising the job.

 

The Barn Owl nestlings cuddled together beneath the rooftop.

 

 (Photos: Motti Charter, Kobi Meyrom)

 


Video Archive


 

Four video clips edited together that summarize nesting season 2009 at Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi

 

 



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