04/20/15: We can hear little owl voices in the nest box in the evenings and the mother owl can be seen sleeping in there with them today. She has been the only owl flying in the front yard lately as we haven’t seen her mate in over a week. Because barn owls mate for life, it’s very unusual that he is not roosting in our palm trees… and we fear that something has happened to him. There are Great Horned owls in the area and they are barn owl predators. Hopefully the young owls are old enough to be uncovered for lengths of time while she struggles to provide enough food as a single parent.
Update 04/23/15: The last couple of nights, we’ve noticed another owl sneaking out the back side of the palm tree, heading in the opposite direction. So, the male owl is around after all! This behavior is different from past owl couples… where the male owl checked in with the female before going out to hunt and communicated more in general. She seems nervous and over protective, and he is fairly aloof. But the babies sound louder… indicating they are growing, so we think all is well.