Do Owls Ever Eat Their Own Babies? Here's What We Know

Last updated on August 23rd, 2022 at 10:06 am

It’s a horrifying thought knowing that an animal is capable of eating its own baby. Perhaps you’ve witnessed it yourself or heard stories about it. Is this typical behavior for owls?

Owls eat their own babies, but this is incredibly rare. They will only eat their young if the owlet has died and the owl can’t find another food source. When eating the baby, the owl will typically eat it whole.

Table of Contents

• Do Baby Owls Eat Their Siblings?
  • Sometimes Younger Owls Die
  • Parent Owls Sometimes Feed Them Regurgitated Food
• Do Owls Eat Other Birds?
• What’s a Typical Diet for Owls?
  • Rodents
  • Invertebrates
  • Small Mammals
  • Fish
  • Amphibians
• What Do Owls Drink?
• Sources

Do Baby Owls Eat Their Siblings?

Baby owls sometimes eat their siblings. However, this is usually the parent’s decision because they bring food, rip it into small pieces, and feed it to the babies.

Owls often regurgitate and feed it to the babies as it’s easier for them to digest. This can rarely include a baby owl.

Sometimes Younger Owls Die

During the breeding season, which is March to August in the northern hemisphere and September to February in the south, owls lay eggs, which can take around a month to hatch.

Owls sometimes lay eggs a few days apart, resulting in staggered hatching.

When this happens, the older owlet will have a size advantage over the younger one.

There is usually plenty of prey for the parent to find during the summer.

But in the unlikely event of a food shortage, the parent owl will feed the larger baby first because it has a greater chance of survival.

If the younger owlet dies and there’s no food available, the parent owl might rip it up into smaller pieces for the sibling to eat.

Parent Owls Sometimes Feed Them Regurgitated Food

When very young, owlets can’t digest food as efficiently as adults. Therefore, the mother owl will partially digest the food, regurgitate it, and then feed it to the baby.

If the owlet’s sibling has died, there’s a prey scarcity, and the adult has eaten the baby, the regurgitate can include the partially-digested sibling.

Do Owls Eat Other Birds?

Owls eat other birds because they are high up in the food chain, as larger owls are more likely to eat other birds.

Although they prefer eating rodents, small mammals, fish, or invertebrates, they will eat smaller birds or eggs if they are desperate.

Other birds that owls eat:

• Ducks: Large owls are more likely to prey on fish than waterbirds. However, they may prey on ducks if they can’t find any creatures in the water. 
• Quails or pheasants: Quails and pheasants are large birds and will offer too much resistance for small owls, such as the Little Owl, to catch. However, large owls will easily catch quails or pheasants if there are no other prey opportunities nearby. 
• Robins, swallows, or jays: Owls prefer eating small mammals or rodents. During the winter, when many small mammals and rodents are hibernating, food becomes scarcer, and owls may need to resort to eating small birds if they can’t find anything else.  
• Smaller owls: As cannibalistic species, owls will eat smaller individuals opportunistically. Great Horned Owls are the most likely to eat smaller individuals, such as Little or Barn Owl. 
• Eggs: Owls sometimes eat unhatched eggs. They usually eat eggs whole and then regurgitate the shell.

What’s a Typical Diet for Owls?

A typical diet for owls includes rodents, invertebrates, small mammals, fish, and amphibians.

They are carnivorous and require the protein, vitamins, and minerals found in other creatures.

Below is some more information on an owl’s typical diet.

Rodents

Rodents are the most common part of an owl’s diet because they are easy to catch and small enough to kill quickly.

Owls have excellent vision and hearing and can easily detect a rodent’s movement from high up in the air.

Once they spot a potential rodent, they quickly swoop down and grasp it in their sharp talons.

Examples of rodents that owls enjoy eating include:

• Mice
• Lemmings
• Rats
• Wild gerbils and guinea pigs

Invertebrates

Owls often eat invertebrates, but this is mainly to supplement their main diet of rodents, fish, or small mammals.

When preparing for the winter, they sometimes stockpile dead insects in their nests in case they cannot find other food.

Here are the most common invertebrates that owls eat:

• Crabs
• Earthworms
• Beetles
• Moths
• Spider

Small Mammals

Large owls, including Grey Grey or Great Horned, can handle preying on small mammals.

Small mammals make an energy-rich and filling meal for large owls, which means they can spend less time hunting.

These are the small mammals that owls commonly hunt for:

• Shrews
• Squirrels
• Hares
• Voles
• Rabbits
• Small foxes

Fish

As opportunistic predators, owls will eat most small creatures, including fish.

When looking for prey in the water, owls fly overhead, scanning for potential food, and once they find a suitable food source, they swoop down and snatch the fish in their talons.

They also occasionally wade in the water to look for prey.

However, not all owls are adept at fishing, but here are the ones that are:

• Asian owls
• African owls
• Pel’s fishing owl

Amphibians

Amphibians make easy prey for owls because they often roam in open spaces, and owls can spot them easily.

The amphibians that owls eat depend on their location and size.

The most commonly-hunted amphibians by owls include:

• Toads
• Snakes
• Salamanders
• Frogs
• Newts

What Do Owls Drink?

Owls don’t typically drink anything, including water. They obtain hydration through the food, and their bodies extract water as they digest food.

Owls sometimes drink water if they are bathing. The same is true for babies.

Sources

• Audubon: What Is An Owl Pellet?
• RSPB: Little Owl Facts | Athene Noctua