Barred Owl
Zoo Animals
Barred Owl
Scientific name: Strix varia
Physical characteristics:
Grey-brown with cross barring on neck and breast; and vertical bars on belly; no ear tufts.
Eyes: Dark brown
Ears: The right ear is higher on the head than the left ear.
Mouth-teeth: Sharp, curved beak; call is “hoo, hoo, too-HOO; hoo, hoo, too-HOO”
which is often phrased as “Who, cooks, for you?”
Feet: Four toes on each foot with sharp talons. Feet are feathered
Tail: Feathers
Length: 16-25” tall
Weight: 500-1050 grams; average male=617g; average female=779g
Life expectancy: 10 years in the wild and up to 23 years in captivity
Diet:
Mostly eats: Meadow voles, shrews, deer mice, rats, squirrels, young rabbits, bats, moles, opossums, mink, and weasels.
Will sometimes eat: Birds such as woodpeckers, grouse, quail, jays, blackbirds, and pigeons. Also eat small fish, turtles, frogs, snakes, lizards, crayfish, scorpions, beetles, crickets, and grasshoppers.
Special adaptations: Silent flight and excellent eyesight even in low light. Eyes are fixed in sockets. Has 14 vertebrae in the neck that enables them to turn their head 270 degrees and have excellent hearing.
Habitat:
Habitat description: Low, wet woods and swampy forests
Daytime: Rests
Nighttime: Hunts mostly at dusk
Mating season: February-August; usually February or March in this area.
Mating frequency: Usually once per year; long breeding season allows for laying of replacement clutches if the first clutch is lost. The Barred owl pairs mate for life.
Number of offspring per “litter”: 2-4
Gestation length: Incubation: 28-33 days
Weaning age: Young leave the nest at 4 weeks, but they cannot fly and so they sit on branches close to the nest. They are called “branchers”. They fledge at 35-40 days.
Nest: Use abandoned nests.
Parental care: Parental care exceeds four months. The male brings food to the female while she is on the nest.
Breeding behavior: Males hoot and females give contact calls. As the nesting season approaches, males chase after females giving a variety of hooting and screeching calls. Males display by swaying back and forth and raising their wings while sidling along a branch. Courtship feeding and mutual preening also occur.
First defense: Beak clacking
Effects of man on populations: Destruction of habitat; car collisions
