The Barred Owl

            In the summer of 2009, I was sitting in my living room watching the news just before dusk. The sun was barely starting to set and the sky became a blend of purple and oranges. It was August. My cup of tea was steeping next to me as I flipped through the 200 channels on TV trying to find something worth watching. It was then I heard a bird call in the distance. I barely paid attention to it at first, simply passing it off as some feathery denizen retreating to its nest for the day. I turned my attention back to the TV, again flipping through the channels. I heard the call again, closer this time. I cocked my head to look behind me out of the large patio-door window expecting to see, well, something. I didn't of course, but I did hear the call again. The thought finally crossed my mind that it sounded like an owl, and the subsequent thought of I have never seen an owl. I couldn't waste this opportunity.

I walked out onto our wooden deck that rests in the shadow of a large cottonwood tree and looked up into the foliage, scanned the limbs and leaves for a few minutes before finally finding the owl. It was the largest bird I had ever seen. Its grey and brown feathers barely showed through the leaf-cover of the cottonwood; a near perfect camouflage. Wanting to see it more clearly, I moved to a different position to get a better vantage point at the owl and again peered up through the branches and locked eyes with the great bird. They looked like deep brown bowls recessed into the disk-shaped face of the owl; a beautiful sight. It called again. Its deep cooing resonated throughout the backyard. I retreated back into the living room for the evening feeling a bit exhilarated with I had just experienced. The next day I had an Environmental Science class at a community college and described the owl to my professor. She then informed me that it was what is known as a Barred Owl, scientific name Strix Varia. I then began researching and learning about more and more about the owl.

            According to the zoo.org website’s fact sheet, the Barred Owl, as well as all other owls, are considered Raptors in the avian family. This means they are adept hunters and eat other animals for sustenance. Researching this more fully, I found that the Barred Owl's entire anatomy is geared toward stealth and hunting. Owls have staggered ear openings on either side of their face. This allows the owl to accurately pinpoint where sound is coming from when searching or zeroing-in on an unsuspecting prey. The disk-shaped recesses in the owl's face funnel sound towards these ear openings allowing for more sensitive, and precise hearing. The Barred Owl's eyes are also brown, a trait shared with only one other member of the owl family, the Barn Owl. Like most owls, Strix Varia has an increased number of “cones” in their eyes allowing for clear vision even in low-light conditions. The vertebrate of the Barred Owl is also important in contributing to its effectiveness as a hunter. The vertebrate in the bird's neck contain over twice as many as a humans allowing for excellent mobility and stability in flight. Due to this unique bone structure, the Barred Owl can rotate its head 270 degrees, which is helpful because it cannot move its eyes independently and must rely on turning its head to look around. The neck structure also allows the owl's head to remain stable and stationary during flight which allows the owl to keep its eyes on where a specific location.
            The Barred Owl is commonly referred to as the Hoot Owl by those who are lucky enough to hear its distinctive cry of “Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all.” (http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Strix&species=varia) Barred Owls are a very common species, and are found throughout most of the United States, sans the South-West, and most of Canada and into Alaska. They primarily live in hollowed trees sometimes roosting in large openings of dead trees or in nests on large tree limbs. Other times Strix Varia may nest in abandoned hawk, squirrel or crows nests. Barred Owls prefer roosting high in densely foliaged deciduous trees to protect and camouflage itself to the rest of its environment. This prevents the Barred Owl's only predator, the Great Horned Owl, and other territorial owls, from displacing them from their home. (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/lifehistory) Barred Owls can be very defensive when protecting their nests as they tend to feed in the general area of their nests as well.

            Eating for the Barred Owl is a fairly uncomplicated task. As a top-predator, Strix Varia has a wide choice of meal options and primarily hunts at night. The Barred Owl will primarily feed on small mammals, such as mice, moles, voles, or squirrels, smaller birds, lizards, frogs and insects. (http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/barred_owl.htm) This large diet makes the owl fairly common and abundant in populations as it rarely goes hungry. Barred Owls may also sometimes be found in inner-city or urban centers where mice or other rodents may be abundant in number providing an appealing place to make a nest.

            Their diet is also what makes Barred Owl's significant to humans and beneficial in nature. Their diet consists of what most people would consider pest and rodent species that generally are undesirable and unwanted. The owls feast on the insects that may brood a garden or agriculture field. They also eat the mice and moles and other small mammals that may cause structural damage or infestations in buildings and homes. A reduction in the number of owls and other birds of prey may result in booming populations of pest species which could have drastic economic and environmental effects. The Barred Owl is a very helpful and quite spectacular organism to behold, and just so happens to provide pleasant vocals to a summer evening's chorus of chirping crickets and ribbiting frogs.