There could be more nachas for Madam Owlberta Wobblewings in early 2025. We first introduced you to Ms. Wobblewings, a great horned owl who took up temporary residence on the balcony outside an apartment rented by Rebecca and Zach Berg—in Owlivette. The Jewish couple’s unit on the northeast corner of The Clover STL was chosen by the owl as a safe space to lay her eggs.
Shortly thereafter, baby Owlivia Newton-John hatched and grew up quickly. She learned to fly and the Wobblewings family departed. Last month, Owlberta returned.
“She has been coming by recently and hooting away to claim her territory,” said Rebecca Berg, who along with Zach named the birds. The Bergs knew little about owls when they moved into the apartment in late 2023, but after seeing them up close for several months, they began researching the birds.
“They are an apex predator in the night sky,” Berg said. “That means that they are the number one in the food chain. In the night sky, they are the most dominant, the ones that could win in any fight. Very few other species of birds would challenge them, just like sharks are the apex predator of the ocean.”
The Bergs aren’t sure Owlberta will lay eggs in the large pot on their balcony again, but they are hopeful.
“They usually take about a month before they lay eggs to circulate their area and evaluate and find their nest,” Berg said. “She’s still coming by and checking it out and hooting and claiming her territory. And hopefully that scares away the other predators of the night and day. She’ll do these tests which is her way of knowing that the baby’s going to be safe if she leaves it.
“About a year ago this week she left her first test, a rat, and about a week or so later she left a second one, a rabbit leg. We think since she left them in the middle of the night and when no predator took them by the next night that it confirmed the nest was safe. What I’ve seen with a lot of other people that track these owls that come back every year, they regularly will find couples that come back to the exact same nest.”
Berg surmises that Owlberta is likely to lay her eggs before the end of the year, which would mean hatchlings could appear by February. The Bergs are not hassling their feathered friends, but they’ve been discretely shooting video. They are also considering installing a camera near the balcony and streaming a live feed on Facebook.
“I’ve seen her and captured her on video three times this month,” she said. “She’s probably been by more often because usually I capture her if I wake up in the middle of the night and I hear her hooting from my bed. She hoots so much to claim her territory and make sure everyone knows she’s here.”
