Wild At Heart Egg Rescues

Just like adult birds, things can happen to nests with eggs. Windstorms can dislodge a nest and sometimes something happens to both parents, leaving no one to take care of the eggs. Here Sam holds a baby Great-horned Owl egg that is just starting to hatch. Carefully incubated by Wild At Heart, the chick in the egg has developed normally and is using its egg tooth and muscles to break out of the egg. During this time the chick may be in the egg, but it can hear and probably tell the difference between night and day. In addition, it can make sounds, perhaps anticipating the day when its calls will summon a parent with food. Contact calls between a baby and its parents are very important. A baby bird that can respond to a parent's calls is more likely to be kept safe and well fed. Sam has learned how to mimic the sounds made by an adult Barn Owl when it is near the nest. Apparently, some baby Great-horned Owls are not too discriminating when it comes to the sounds parents make. Use the link below to hear Sam "talk" to the baby in the egg, and to the baby's reply. You can also hear some clicks, perhaps made when the bird's egg tooth comes into contact with the egg shell when it calls out. First you hear Sam, then the owl. This is repeated twice.

Sam Talks to the Great-horned Owl Egg Sound Recording

How the egg was recorded

Sam Fox having a short conversation with a Great-horned Owl egg

You can also play a recording of a Barn Owl chick in the egg and what a 3 day old Barn Owl chick sounds like outside of the egg. All the sounds you hear will be made by a Barn Owl.

Barn Owl Chick in the Egg Recording

Barn Owl Chick 3 Days Old Recording

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