Barred Owl Strix varia Scientific name definitions

A large gray-brown owl with dark eyes, a rounded head, and elongated stripes below, the Barred Owl is widely distributed in the United States and Canada. It is fairly common in mature deciduous and mixed forests, including swamps, riparian forest, and upland stands, and increasingly in wooded, suburban neighborhoods with mature trees (especially in the southeastern United States). The Barred Owl is often used as an indicator species in the management of mature forests in eastern North America. In portions of its range, its habitat use overlaps closely with that of the Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), and it can be considered a nocturnal ecological equivalent of that species. Indeed, it is not unusual for the Barred Owl and Red-shouldered Hawk to nest in close proximity, and, in one reported case, the two species nested in the same tree!

The vocal repertoire of the Barred Owl is impressive. In addition to its distinctive hooting call (often rendered as Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?), it has a wide variety of calls including a loud and rather chaotic duetting caterwaul that sounds like maniacal laughter. Almost everyone living in a suburban neighborhood inhabited by a Barred Owl is aware of its presence.

A true generalist predator—much like the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)—the Barred Owl consumes a wide variety of small mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, reptiles, and invertebrates. Rarely, larger prey up to the size of grouse and rabbits are taken.

The Barred Owl is territorial throughout the year and monogamous, raising one brood annually. Clutch size usually varies from 1–5 eggs (4 egg clutches are rare and 5 eggs even more so). It is typically a cavity nester and most often nests in large trees in old forests. However, the species will often nest in uncovered, bowl-like depressions formed where large branches have broken off a tree or in an uncovered hollow tree snag. It will occasionally use an old hawk or crow nest. The species readily adopts nest boxes.

In the late 1800s and 1900s, the Barred Owl expanded its range west through the Great Plains and northern boreal forest, and it now occurs from southeastern Alaska south to central California. The range expansion into the Pacific Northwest has brought the Barred Owl into contact with the closely related, federally threatened Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina). The slightly larger, more aggressive Barred Owl displaces and hybridizes with the Spotted Owl and consequently has been the subject of extensive research and experimental culling.

Many aspects of the species' life history have been well studied, including its association with mature and old-growth forest, diet, and territoriality and home range. Breeding ecology and reproductive success, however, remain less well known in part because its nests are hidden and inaccessible, but recordings from nest cameras are providing data on this aspect of the species' biology. In addition, the latest generation of GPS-equipped telemetry is further refining our understanding of habitat use.