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Egg chatter

Conifers have very few holes in them, but many animals depend on holes for shelter or for nesting. Man planted the conifers, and so it seems only right that man now provides the holes. Conservation officer, Martin Davison, took Bill Oddie to see one of his favourite forest birds, the tawny owl. The female flies out of the nest box, and Martin goes to see what's inside. There are eggs, and the chicks are calling from inside the shells - it's called pipping. The baby inside is calling to the female to say that it鈥檚 just about to hatch. They return the eggs to the nestbox so that the mother will get back to incubating them. You have to have a special licence to handle tawny owl eggs.

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2 minutes

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