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#NotesFromTheRiver - Barred Owl

  

 

"Who cooks for you? Who cooks for YOU-aaallllll?" 

Some of you may be familiar with the entity that shrieks out this phrase in the middle of the night, often right outside your bedroom window, while others of you are probably scratching your heads. I can assure you of two things: 1) I didn't make it up, and 2) it is actually a remarkably apt attempt at putting the call of the barred owl, Strix varia, into words.

Barred owls are among my favorite birds, which is one of the reasons I’ve chosen to focus my second Notes From the River post on them. I hope you’ll enjoy reading along, and perhaps learning some things you didn’t know before. (And hey, if the text gets boring, you can always just admire the wonderful photographs, most of which are courtesy of St. Johns River Eco Tours’ own Doug Little, wildlife photographer extraordinaire.)


 

 According to several online articles I googled, just to double check my facts, barred owls live in large, mature forests made up of both deciduous trees and evergreens, often near water. This is true, but I have them in my neighborhood, as well, and often in my own yard, and I do not live in a large, mature forest, or near water, other than my goldfish pond. There are some big laurel oaks on my block, and that seems to suit a small group of barred owls just fine, as they have been nesting here for years. I’m less than half a mile from Seminole Towne Center, off a pretty busy road, so you can see that the owls forgot to read what the books say on the matter of their habitat. (And by the way, a group of owls can be called a bazaar, a glaring, a parliament, a stooping, or a wisdom, in case you were wondering. I'll go with wisdom. Therefore, I have a wisdom of owls in my neighborhood.)

 The rest of the statistics I found online seem to be more or less accurate. Barred owls are large, mostly brown and white striped birds, lacking the “ear” tufts of the even larger great horned owls, and the tiny screech owls. Instead of the golden eyes of Florida’s other owl species, a barred owl’s eyes are dark brown. The owls range from 17” to 24” in height, and have a wingspread of 50” to 60”. That large size, combined with their round heads and dark eyes, makes them very easy to identify. In addition, they are seen in daylight hours much more often than other owls, so the opportunity to spot them is greatly increased.

 Like most of their kin, barred owls hunt largely at night, and dine on rodents and other small prey. They are also fond of fish, and I have seen the ones around my house fly across my pond and snatch up unwary goldfish swimming too near the surface. Here, a parent has just given a small fish to an owlet, on the left.

 A fun to thing to do on a nighttime hike is to play a recording of a barred owl’s call. In moments, any owls residing in the area will come swooping in to check out the “newcomer,” and will often engage in a back and forth dialogue with your recorder. In addition to their normal call, they can produce some very startling cackles and hoots, sounding like something from an old Tarzan movie. This is not something I recommend doing very often. No need to harass the birds. But it is a technique that is often used on annual bird counts, to get a feel for the number of owls in a given area.

If you are very good at mimicking, you can skip the recording, and imitate the call yourself. I can do it fairly well, successfully pulling in a few owls while on camping trips and even here at the house, but I once knew a gal who sounded more like barred owls than they do! 

 Click here to listen to some of their calls, yourself.

 Barred owls nest in tree cavities, or in abandoned red-shouldered hawk nests, and produce 2 to 3 white eggs, with an incubation time of 28 to 33 days. The incubation duties are the esponsibility of the female bird.

 Originally a bird of the eastern states, during the 20th century, the range of the barred owl extended to the northwest part of the country, and has now spread a bit south into Oregon. This strikes me as an unusual pattern of distribution, but I haven’t found any explanation for it, so far. 

 If you are in the central Florida area, a cruise aboard the Naiad is not only a great way to spend an afternoon, it’s a very good way to spot owls and other birds and wildlife. Barred owls are seen along the shores very frequently, and often up close and personal enough to get some good photos. I highly recommend it!

 

~~~

 Other Florida owl species include the eastern screech owl, the barn owl, the burrowing owl, and the great-horned owl. We’ll talk about some of those another day. In the meantime, please feel free to let me know if you have any questions about barred owls at all. I’ll do my best to answer them for you. And remember, look UP now and then. You never know what might be watching YOU from a perch overhead.

 

 And that's all for this week, folks. Hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about one of central Florida's most interesting birds, and seeing some of Doug Little's beautiful photography. And if you're in the area this Saturday, 1/14, come join me for a 1:30 departure on the Naiad, for a Meet the Author Tour. Would love to see you! For more info on that, click HERE.

 

 

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Comments

Guest - Olga Núñez Miret on Wednesday, 11 January 2017 09:39

I love owls and this is such a fantastic animal. I'm quite far away but whenever I come to that area I'll be sure to book one of your tours. Good luck!

I love owls and this is such a fantastic animal. I'm quite far away but whenever I come to that area I'll be sure to book one of your tours. Good luck!
Marcia Meara on Wednesday, 11 January 2017 10:05
Thanks, Olga

I'll be looking for you to show up some day! Hope you took a minute to listen to this owl's amazing calls! They're wonderful to hear.

I'll be looking for you to show up some day! :D Hope you took a minute to listen to this owl's amazing calls! They're wonderful to hear.
Guest - Mae Clair on Wednesday, 11 January 2017 10:57
Who Cooks for You?

I had forgotten that phrase until reading your post. It's been quite a long time since I've heard it, but whenever I am lucky enough to hear the call of an owl, I stop to listen. Love owls and love having their calls resound in the night.
A nice post and beautiful photographs!

I had forgotten that phrase until reading your post. It's been quite a long time since I've heard it, but whenever I am lucky enough to hear the call of an owl, I stop to listen. Love owls and love having their calls resound in the night. A nice post and beautiful photographs!
Marcia Meara on Wednesday, 11 January 2017 11:03
Owly Stuff

Thanks, Mae! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoyed actually listening to all the many calls and weird sounds a barred owl can make. They are amazing! Of course, the who cooks for you is the one they are most famous for, but their repertoire extends far beyond that. Hope you're going to enjoy these Wednesday posts. I'm planning all sorts of good things for the weeks ahead. Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks, Mae! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoyed actually listening to all the many calls and weird sounds a barred owl can make. They are amazing! Of course, the who cooks for you is the one they are most famous for, but their repertoire extends far beyond that. Hope you're going to enjoy these Wednesday posts. I'm planning all sorts of good things for the weeks ahead. Thanks for stopping by!
Guest - Linda L Williams on Wednesday, 11 January 2017 15:45
Love Birds

Owls are remarkable and beautiful creatures. In Colorado, I've seen and heard the Great Horned Owl, the Barn Owl, the Screech Owl, and the adorable Saw-Whet Owl. Haven't seen a Barred Owl since we lived in Illinois.

Wonderful post, Marcia. Thanks for sharing. Pinned to my Love Birds board.

Owls are remarkable and beautiful creatures. In Colorado, I've seen and heard the Great Horned Owl, the Barn Owl, the Screech Owl, and the adorable Saw-Whet Owl. Haven't seen a Barred Owl since we lived in Illinois. Wonderful post, Marcia. Thanks for sharing. Pinned to my Love Birds board.
Marcia Meara on Wednesday, 11 January 2017 16:17
Hi, Linda!

You are so right. Owls are truly remarkable, beautiful, and interesting in so many ways. I've never seen a saw-whet owl, so you have one on me. Maybe someday, I'll get out to their part of the country and spot one.

So glad you enjoyed the post, Linda, and thanks for commenting, and sharing. I'm hoping to get this blog off to a good start this month, and you just helped!

You are so right. Owls are truly remarkable, beautiful, and interesting in so many ways. I've never seen a saw-whet owl, so you have one on me. Maybe someday, I'll get out to their part of the country and spot one. So glad you enjoyed the post, Linda, and thanks for commenting, and sharing. I'm hoping to get this blog off to a good start this month, and you just helped! :)
Guest - Linda L Williams on Thursday, 12 January 2017 15:50
My pleasure, Marcia!

I'm a true nature-lover, and I'm looking forward to all of your posts.

I'm a true nature-lover, and I'm looking forward to all of your posts.
Marcia Meara on Thursday, 12 January 2017 16:30
Good For You, Linda!

I'll do my best to keep them interesting, informative, and when possible, fun. Thanks for being interested, Linda.

I'll do my best to keep them interesting, informative, and when possible, fun. Thanks for being interested, Linda. :)
Guest - Anne on Wednesday, 11 January 2017 15:59
Owls

Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday.
Marcia Meara on Wednesday, 11 January 2017 16:15
Glad You're Coming!

This IS the infamous Lady in Purple, right? I believe Doug said you'd signed up, and I'm looking forward to seeing you, as well. I think the weather's going to be fantastic, and we will have a really good time! (That's my story, an' I'm stickin' to it!)

And nice to see you here today, too. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. Have a great rest of the week!

This IS the infamous Lady in Purple, right? I believe Doug said you'd signed up, and I'm looking forward to seeing you, as well. I think the weather's going to be fantastic, and we will have a really good time! (That's my story, an' I'm stickin' to it!) :D And nice to see you here today, too. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. Have a great rest of the week!
Guest - jasmine on Tuesday, 22 May 2018 11:22
Barred owls

I love owls and there calls are so soothing :. Also these pictures are beautiful

I love owls and there calls are so soothing :. Also these pictures are beautiful:)
Marcia Meara on Tuesday, 22 May 2018 11:49
Thanks!

So glad you enjoyed the post and photos. Most of them were taken on board the Naiad by Doug Little. Barred owls are favorites of mine, too. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

So glad you enjoyed the post and photos. Most of them were taken on board the Naiad by Doug Little. Barred owls are favorites of mine, too. :D Thanks for taking the time to comment. :)
Guest - jasmine on Tuesday, 22 May 2018 11:24
Barred owls

barred owls rockbarred owls[img]barred owl

:D:):o:p:(;) barred owls rock[img]barred owls[img]barred owl[/img]
Marcia Meara on Tuesday, 22 May 2018 11:50
I Agree!

They do rock, indeed!

They do rock, indeed! :D
Guest - jasmine on Tuesday, 22 May 2018 11:25
Barred owls

i didnt mean to post a i meant

i didnt mean to post a :( i meant :)
Marcia Meara on Tuesday, 22 May 2018 11:51
Not To Worry!

No problem at all!

No problem at all!
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