Barred Owl

The Barred Owl is one of my favourite owls to observe and hear. Many times in our travels we have been fortunate to hear their haunting call early in the mornings at a Florida swamp or at a campfire in Northern Ontario. Some of my most favourite campfires are late at night after the rest of the camp has gone to bed hearing the tree frogs croaking, a lone loon eerily calling on the bay and then, in the distance, the beautiful haunting call of Barred Owls. Many times we have even experienced them actually in our campsite calling back and forth at each other for hours.

A couple days ago I was up early and in the Pinery by 6 am on an owl prowl for a reported Barred Owl. Although we have seen and photographed dozens of Barred Owls this would be my first in Lambton County.

After searching for awhile I ran into a park staffer who knew the general location of where the owl had been spotted the day before and had just located the owl. Together we shared that incredibly emotional nature experience.

We were able to obtain a couple of record shots of the occasion but didn’t dare even remotely disturb the owl as we knew other birders were on their way to observe this great Lambton bird.

It wasn’t till that night when I looked at the couple of images that I did take that I noticed that the owl looked weak and tired. At the time I just figured it was resting. However I do remember commenting to my companion observer that it was too bad we didn’t get to see those hauntingly beautiful deep blue eyes that you always try to capture as a photographer.

Unfortunately, today I learned that the next day a fellow birder discovered the owl laying in distress on the ground. Park staff recovered the owl and it has been moved to a rehab center for raptors to hopefully recover.

You read and hear of so many stories of birders and photographers disturbing owls that hopefully this is the case of people actually helping to save an owl.

If you are interested in some Barred Owl images click on Barred Owl in the label column.

Barred Owl

 

Barred Owls don’t migrate, and they don’t even move around very much. Of 158 birds that were banded and then found later, none had moved farther than 6 miles away.

Despite their generally sedentary nature, Barred Owls have recently expanded their range into the Pacific Northwest. There, they are displacing and hybridizing with Spotted Owls—their slightly smaller, less aggressive cousins—which are already threatened from habitat loss.

Young Barred Owls can climb trees by grasping the bark with their bill and talons, flapping their wings, and walking their way up the trunk.

The oldest recorded Barred Owl was at least 26 years, 7 months old. It was banded in North Carolina in 1993, and caught due to injury in 2019. Cornell All About Birds

Barred Owl

 

Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California.

Like all owls the Barred Owl can pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb.

The Great Horned Owl is the most serious predatory threat to the Barred Owl. Although the two species often live in the same areas, a Barred Owl will move to another part of its territory when a Great Horned Owl is nearby.

I observed this Barred Owl actively hunting chipmunks in the snow.

Barred Owl

 

Although not common here in Lambton County I’ve probable seen more Barred Owls then any other species of owls. On one owl prowl with the grandkids up on Georgian Bay we could visually see seven Barred Owls at the same time plus hear others calling in the distance. We’ve had them in our campsites on many occasions calling back and forth.

We have also encountered Barred Owls in our travels all over the United States, especially Florida, Michigan and the Midwest.

The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps.

I find the Barred Owl to be a very attractive owl, with soulful deep blue eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage.