Hoo’s ready to hatch?! Moment a barn owl chick chirps from INSIDE the egg to say it’s time to emerge
- Andrew Fawcett of the York Bird of Prey Centre held up the barn owl egg
- A video shows Mr Fawcett whistling at the egg when the chick responds
- Mr Fawcett said the barn owls regularly communicate hours before hatching
These are the amazing scenes as a barn owl chick chirps from inside its own egg prior to its hatching.
The footage was filmed at the York Bird of Prey Centre by the Managing Director Andrew Fawcett.
Mr Fawcett held up the egg and whistled at the shell. The chick responds by chirping away.
Andrew Fawcett of the York Bird of Prey Centre whistled at the barn owl egg which was almost ready to hatch. When Mr Fawcett whistled, the bird inside responded by chirping
The chick could be heard chirping from inside the egg, pictured, hours before it hatched
The following day, on February 10, the egg finally hatched and the barn owl was named Owlbert.
Mr Fawcett said: ‘It’s common for the barn owl to talk back to you in the egg at the point of hatching.
‘It’s a way they communicate.
‘For us it’s very exciting to hear the lease of new life that’s about to enter the world.’
The popular visitor attraction is home to more than 100 birds and features 45 different species.
It opened in 2011 and moved to its current home in 2013 offering two flying displays a day.
The barn owl, named Owlbert, pictured, hatched on February 10 at the wildlife centre
There are around 4,000 pairs of barn owls across the UK. Adult birds are between 13 and 15 inches long and have a wingspan of between 31 and 37 inches. They weigh between nine and 12 ounces
Barn owls are a nocturnal bird distributed across much of the UK, though their numbers have been hit by the use of organochlorine pesticides in the 1950s and 1960s.
They eat mice, voles, shrews and some larger mammals and small birds and can grow to between 13 to 15 inches.
They have a wingspan of between 31 and 37 inches and weigh an average of between nine and 12 ounces.
There are an estimated 4,000 pairs across the UK.