Owl cam: NC Wildlife Resources Commission puts owlet hatch on display

Have you ever seen an owlet hatch? The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission wants to allow you to see just that with their "Barn Owlet Watch 2026" livestream.

RALEIGH, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Have you ever seen an owlet hatch? The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission wants to allow you to see just that with their “Barn Owlet Watch 2026” livestream.

The 24/7 video feed comes from a nesting box of two barn owls. The birds are parents-to-be, with six eggs located in the middle of their nest. NCWRC officials predict that the owlets will hatch somewhere between April 9 and April 15, based on a 32-day incubation period. The first egg was laid on March 11.

“The Barn Owl Live Cam is our newest conservation adventure,” said NCWRC Education Development and Evaluation Supervisor Sydney Brown in a press release. “What began as a dream quickly grew, thanks to our incredible internal partners, into a 24/7 window into the secret life of barn owls for North Carolinians who may never see these birds in their own backyards.”

Watch the feed

The solar-powered cameras were installed inside the nest in August 2025 and have operated with minimal interruption since December. The nesting box itself dates back to 2011. NCWRC officials said that the nest has been used by barn owls six times in 16 years, possibly by the same nesting couple occupying the space now.

The boxes are intended to operate as nonintrusive windows into barn owl life for biologists, as well as a safe haven for owls experiencing habitat loss.

(Courtesy: North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission) The barn owl couple inside their nesting box, as seen on the livestream Dec. 17, 2025.

In the release, Brown said the livestream is an opportunity for the public to learn about the importance of barn owls by observing the nesting process. The video feed is the first of what NCWRC hopes will become many such experiences.

“We’re excited to keep expanding this project with fun educational content, conservation updates and plenty of owl magic,” said Brown. “And we assure the public that owls are completely wild. We do not intervene or interfere with their natural behaviors or nesting process.”

To contact the team about barn owls and nest boxes, email the NCWRC Wild Observer program at wrc-wild.observer@ncwildlife.gov.

For wildlife questions, call the NCWRC Wildlife Helpline at (866) 318-2401.

More information about barn owls, visit www.ncwildlife.gov/species/barn-owl.