Complete Guide To The Barred Owl
Barred Owl
Barred Owl Images
How to Find And Identify Barred Owls
- Wingspan: 3.67 feet (1.1 meters)
- Females are slightly larger than males.
- Barred Owls are the second largest owl species found in North Carolina, outsized only by the wingspan of the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus).
- Females are slightly larger than males.
- Male and female Barred Owls look similar.
- Stocky.
- Mottled black-brown and white head feathers.
- Gray eye disks.
- Dark brown eyes.
- No ear tufts.
- Pale chest streaked with black-brown markings.
- Sub-adults resemble adults, with redder feathers.
- Look for Barred Owls in mature forests with minimal undergrowth.
- Mature trees have cavities in which Barred Owls nest.
- Woods that have clear lines of sight from the trees down to the ground help Barred Owls spot prey (Stokes and Stokes 1989).
Behavior Notes: Barred Owls
- Barred Owls are one of the easiest North Carolina owl species to spot in the wild because they:
- Rest out in the open during the day, perched on horizontal tree branches.
- Are often spotted and mobbed by American Crows.
- Hoot during the day with a call that sounds like “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?”.
- Barred Owls appear to be territorial—or at least curious. They fly in to investigate either the hoots of other Barred Owls or recordings of Barred Owl hoots.
- Their territory encompasses approximately one square mile (2.6 square kilometers) (Stokes and Stokes 1989).
- Barred Owls prey on small animals including:
- Rodents, like mice, rats, voles, and Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)
- Birds, including eggs and chicks of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) (Mahony 2017, https://doi.org/10.1676/16-054.1).
- Snakes
- Frogs
- Crayfish (Meritt and Eul 2013)
- Occasionally carrion of animals usually taken as live prey, like squirrels (Kapfer, Gammon, and Groves 2011, https://doi.org/10.1676/11-015.1).
Barred Owl Classification
|
Phylum |
Chordata |
|
Class |
Aves |
|
Order |
Strigiformes |
|
Family |
Strigidae (True Owls) |
|
Genus |
Strix |
|
Species |
S. varia |
Binomial Name |
Strix varia |
