Barred Owl

Size:                       

Length:   17-24 in    Weight:  1.4 lbs (male) -1.7 (female)      Wingspan:  42-60 in

ID:       

Male: Medium sized and stout; large round head (to accommodate large eyes and ear openings; upperparts dark brown with heavy white spots; light underparts with dark bold vertical streaks; throat area has horizontal brown and light bars; tail dark with 4 or 5 lighter bars and tip; rounded facial disc with concentric rings of brown and white; flight feathers have dark bars

           Beak:  yellowish, small and sharp; angled downward to prevent blocking own vision; strong enough to crack turtle shell  

           Eyes:  brown unlike the yellow of most other owls; excellent night vision but special inner eyelids (nictitating membrane looks like blue film) can block bright sunlight for day time hunting; as with all owls, depth perception is achieved by both eyes being in front of head; eye movement is slight (only little more than 1.5%), thus owls have 14 neck vertebrae to allow for rotation of head about 270 degrees (all mammals have only 7); feathers on eyelids

          Ears:  asymmetrical ears (right ear is larger and higher on the head) which facilitate location of prey both left to right and up and down; round facial disc helps to gather sound and send it to the ears

          Feet:  zygodactylous (feet with two toes forward and two facing back); in flight 3 toes are forward and one faces backward but perched or holding prey the  front outer toe on each foot turns to face the rear (has special flexible joint); very strong short feet with very sharp claws; vise-like grip (locking mechanism in foot) and the sharp talons quickly kill; feathers on legs and toes to protect against bites from prey and perhaps cold weather

         Feathers: Colored cryptically (or colored to conceal) in order to hide during the day from mobbing by smaller birds; 10, 000 feathers of various kinds cover most of owl (only skin surface with no feathers is underside of feet); primary feathers leading edge is soft and comb-like to muffle sounds as feathers move through the air and against each other (silent while flying so small prey can't hear the owl coming and the owl can hear the prey's movements in the undergrowth); wings are large in comparison to weight which means less need to flap and facilitates ability to carry relatively heavy prey
Female: Similar to male but larger (one third heavier than male)
Juvenile: Similar to adult but head markings less distinct; fluffy, downy plumage overall

Habitat:

Dense mixed woodlands growing near source of water

Diet:

Opportunistic forager; swoops onto prey from a perch, while hovering, or wades into shallow water to snag prey; small mammals (mice, rats, lemmings, shrews, small squirrels, baby rabbits, bats, moles, voles, opossums, weasels), birds, amphibians (crayfish, frogs and fish), insects, and reptiles. Eats small prey whole and returns to shelter, eats head first of other prey;  regurgitates pellets or indigestible parts (feathers and bones).

Family Behavior:

Mating Habits:  Monogamous and may mate for life; mating season starts in February; chasing, calling back and forth, mutual preening and feeding; 1 brood per year

Local Breeding Period: Mid-March
Nests: Rarely builds own nest (tree trunks or abandoned nest of hawks, squirrels or crows) and often use same one many times
Eggs: 2-4 plain white 2 inch long eggs; female incubates 28-33 days (male feeds her at this time); female starts sitting on eggs when first one is laid so hatching is asynchronous (eggs hatch at different times, thus chances of the last nestlings survival with much larger siblings is not great)
Nestlings: Born altricial (helpless, naked, eyes closed) and stay in nest 42-44 days; fed by both parents;  can fly at 6-8 weeks but may stay with parents up to four months

Social Activities:

Nocturnal and crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) but may also hunt in daytime

Range:

Do not migrate. Most of eastern US and south to Honduras, across lower Canada and expanding in northwestern US.

Vocalization:           

Song is 8 or 9 notes commonly described as "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?"  Call is long drawn- out hoo-ahh; female has more warbling notes; the pair call, cackle, shriek and hoot back and forth when courting.