Barn owl: Difference between revisions

[[File:Tyto Alba chick.jpg|thumb|150px|left|A tyto alba chick within its first month of life.]]

The tytonid life cycle, like all birds, begins as an [[egg]]. A typical clutch (the number of eggs laid) for the tyto alba may contain between one and seven eggs, but the phodilus badius may lay between three and five eggs.<ref name=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/><ref name= Owls.org/> Thirty-two to thirty-four days after being laid, the new barn owl hatches from its egg.<ref name=www.nhptv.org>. [http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/barnowl.htm Barn Owl - Tyto alba] ''www.nhptv.org''. Web. Accessed march 23, 2014. Author Unknown.</ref> Once hatched, a tytonid chick will weigh approximately 20 grams <ref name=Sky-hunters.org/> Usually, both parents assist in caring for the young. The female's main task is to incubate and warm the chicks while the male primarily hunts and provides food for the young.<ref name=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/> By the time the chicks reach about five weeks old, they will typically weigh as much as an adult. In order to provide enough food for the young, the parents must capture as many as seventy-four mice or other small animals per night.<ref name=Sky-hunters.org/> When it reaches the age of two months old, the owl is old enough to hunt for itself.<ref name=www.nhptv.org/>