Reproduction

     The species Tyto alba are dieocous, containing both female and male sexes; and therefore, they are involved in sexual reproduction. Unlike many other animals, the barn owl shares a monogamous relationship with another, meaning an owl and  its mate stay together throughout their lifespan, reproducing with only each other. Typically for barn owls, they reproduce once or twice every year depending on their surrounding environments resources (Animal Diversity Web, 2002).
      For breeding to occur, male barn owls must attract the opposite sex. A key mechanism they use is displaying their hunted prey. Males seeking a mate, gather an abundance of their food supply and present it in front of their nest for a female to see. It is assumed that the female observes that the male possesses characteristics useful for providing for her and potential offspring (Taylor,1994). Other rituals the barn owls participate in are what are called ‘moth flights’ where the male flights up to the female and stalls over her for a period of time, as well as partake in what is called ‘sexual chases’, where the males follow the female in an obstacle of turning and twisting at high speeds (Bunn, 1982).
      Barn owls go through what is called internal fertilization. It is where fertilization takes place within the female carrying the offspring and goes through direct development, where in this case, the young hatches from their eggs and resemble the features of their parents. The breeding cycle commonly begins in the late winter and the laying of eggs starts in the spring, usually beginning of April (The Barn Owl Trust, 2012). A condition that female barn owls search for when preparing for their clutch is inhabiting an area abundant of their food source (Taylor, 1994). This in turn, is very helpful to the male counterpart in that since he stays in the nest with his mate, he provides food for her by only leaving the nest for hunting in the surrounding environment. Statistics even show a substantially increase in males staying next to the females side in the two weeks leading up the laying of their young (The Barn Owl Trust, 2012).

 

 

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