![]() ![]() In the photo below, you’ll see that the owl appears to be yawning. In fact, it is during the winter that you may get to see another interesting aspect of the Barred Owl – something shared by all owls actually. In winter, when the leaves are down, seeing a Barred Owl becomes much easier (so long as you can brave the weather yourself!). When startled, they tend to fly away rather than rely on their camouflage, so getting too close is not a good idea. If you are lucky, you may encounter one while walking in the woods. Most nestlings fledge during June and early July. In the spring and summer, it is calling birds that tend to give away their presence. With a little patience and some searching, you may even see some of the young birds begging for food from their parents. Their longevity, sedentary behaviour, and large size mean that, of all the owls found in Ontario, the Barred Owl is definitely the one easiest to locate. The oldest on record lived to be 24 years old. However, if all goes well, Barred Owls are known to live for over 20 years. Without the option to fly south, an ice-storm will produce similar results since many of the prey items will be stuck below the snow. If the owls have a good breeding season followed by a tough winter, the “surplus” of owls will unfortunately fall victim to a food shortage and many birds will become weakened and die. Fortunately they feed on a large variety of small animals, including squirrels, chipmunks and voles, as well as many types of bird, up to the size of a grouse. The fact that the Barred Owl is pretty much sedentary has implications for winter survival. A Great Horned Owl won’t think twice about spoiling its day (or night). However, with a wingspan of just over a metre and a weight of about a kilo, even the Barred Owl is not safe. It’s certainly strange to think that owls go around hunting each other but that’s the way it is. They are even known to kill their smaller relatives and even to hunt the diminutive Saw-whet Owl. What’s on the menu?Įven though their weird calls may conjure up images of wild creatures slowly creeping up on the tent, the Barred Owl is not particularly adventurous and rarely wanders more than from its birth place.ĭespite this, it has managed to spread across the Pacific Northwest during the last century and is now found down into California where it is displacing and hybridizing with the endangered Spotted Owl. I must admit: I didn’t have a clue what I was hearing the first time I heard them. They are actually a type of contact call and often mean something as simple as “here I am – come feed me.” The screeching and hissing calls are made by (and for) young birds. ![]() While some may be familiar with Barred Owls’ traditional hoot - “who cooks for you, who cooks for you all” - very few realize that these owls make a vast array of other calls, including hissing, coughing, barking and the aforementioned screeching. More often than not, the sound our campers are hearing is actually a Barred Owl, a common resident of mature mixed forests throughout Ontario and eastern North America. It sounded more like a monkey or a weird dog or something.” “Well, I’m pretty sure it was a screech-owl – it was making strange screeching sounds” or conversely, “It definitely wasn’t an owl. It’s a common question that park interpreters face almost daily during the summer and one that many folks already think they know the answer to: Read, a senior interpreter at Murphys Point Provincial Park. ![]()
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