Unlike humans, young animals are expected to leave the care of their parents early on in their lives and when it comes to owls, this is no different. We have all heard the saying ‘its time to spread your wings’ or ‘Its time to leave the nest’ and this means its time to grow up, move out and take care of ourselves. This play on words comes from the fact that birds do in fact get to a certain age where they will spread their wings and then leave the nest to begin life on their own. But the big question is when?
When do owlets leave the nest?
The short answer is that owls will stay in their nests for around 6-13 weeks, depending on the owl species, before they leave to fend for themselves. This can actually be before they have learnt to properly fly and might spend the first few days building their leg muscles.
So perhaps the saying ‘spread their wings’ isnt exactly accurate in all cases. The owls can try and fly but often they’ll just topple to the ground and begin their independent life fending for itself on its feet. If you see an owlet in the wild which looks to be alone or looks to have fallen out of its nest, this might be true but it doesn’t mean there is always a problem. The owlet may have purposefully fled the nest and although they may look delicate and concerning, this is natures way of preparing the owl for the hardship of life as a wild animal. This isn’t to say ignore it and assume the owlet is fine, perhaps assess the situation and read my other post What Do I Do If I Find A Baby Owl? to decipher if help is needed. Often the owlet will find a bush or a high ledge to sit on until they have figured out the art of flying.
Late Developers such as Barn Owls and Great-Horned Owls
Barn owls will leave the nest for a while to investigate the area and play-hunt but will still return to to nest for a few weeks. This helps the Barn owl to get used to hunting and looking for prey as they will not learn to hunt from their parents and instead will need to rely on their own natural instincts. Sometimes the owlet will even roost outside at around 10 weeks old and this will be when they usually find out they aren’t waterproof and the rain is not a friend and from then on they will learn to dry roost. Barn owls are quite good at allowing their owlets to stay in the nest for longer than some species of owl. Dispersal AKA leaving the nest for Barn owls can be as late as 13 weeks in some cases. By this time the mother owl might be trying to get the lasting owlets to leave and may attempt to chase them off but many Barn owl mothers have also shown a lot of tolerance for their lingering young and actually allow them to return for much longer than you would expect, this is because Barn owls, like Great-Horned owls actually develop slower than other owl species.
Great-Horned owls will sit on their young for around 2 weeks after they hatch to keep them warm. From the third week the owlets can keep fairly warm on their own as long as the temperature doesn’t drop ridiculously low. When the owlets are around 6 weeks old they will have developed big, strong enough feet to be able to wonder out onto branches and low bushes – this is once again the time when people will often interfere in what is a normal and natural part of the owlets life cycle – when they go explore on their own even though they are still young and vulnerable. At this stage, the Great-Horned owlet will still return to the nest afterwards, or regardless will still be fed by the parents. Once again, quite late for owls, the Great-Horned owlet will attempt to fly around the nest to practice for fledging at around 7 weeks old. It takes the owlet a few weeks to perfect their flying therefore will stay around the nest for this period.
Tree Dwelling Owls such as Northern Hawk-Owls
Northern-Hawk owls often leave the nest for a taste of independent life but will ultimately return to the nest for a while, they will climb on the tree branches that surround the nest and flee officially when they feel confident enough in their ability to fly from the nest successfully. This can be as early as 3 weeks after hatching but the typical time frame is anywhere from 3-5 weeks. Owlets that flee from a nest by flight are known as fledglings.
Ground Dwelling Owls such as Short-Eared Owls
Owl species that tend to nest on the ground or lower than tree tops such as Short-eared owls will have a period of exploration which we know as branching and they tend to leave the nest to have a look around from 2 weeks old because they are one of the fastest developing owl breeds. They will usually leave the nest at around 4-5 weeks officially.
Conclusion
In conclusion, owls leave the nest fairly early and this is because of their life span. Even though owls can live an impressive 25-30 years if lucky, wild owls tend to only live for a couple of years max therefore they must leave the nest and become independent as early as possible!