In Praise of the Not So Common Barred Owl
August, 2024
by Carl Davis, Class of 2017
What I didn’t know.
I am no bird expert but I frequently have heard owl (Strigiforme) calls around my home and was aware of the hoot of the Barred Owl. In fact, if the Barred Owl is mentioned in text or video or in conversation the Barred Owl's famous hoot will be most likely be mentioned and possibly demonstrated, the "who cooks for you, who cooks for you all". That’s hoot number one. I recognize and enjoy their definitive hoot. My introduction to owl calls and the Barred in particular was at an Owl Prowl at the World Bird Sanctuary years ago. The owl that was most likely to be heard was the ubiquitous Barred Owl. As we prowled we heard the familiar, with culinary references, hoot in answer to a barred owl recording being played by the guide. This greatly aided me in the identification Barred Owls mating and territorial hoots that I frequently hear at my home adjacent to Cliff Cave County Park. I love the nightly winter and spring celebrations of this plentiful bird. Late this winter when I heard a simple "hoo hoo" I thought it must be a Great Horned Owl as there was no "cooking" involved. A few nights later, with the help of Merlin, I found it was in fact a Barred Owl that obviously had no culinary skills. Okay, that's hoot number two for the Barred Owl.
After dark, but in the early part of the night late this spring, I heard animal cries, shrieks and weird noises outside my house. I assumed some some poor critter (possibly rabbit as they don't go quietly) was dinner for one of the the areas crepuscular or nocturnal hunters (fox, coyote, feral cat or owl) I know are close by. Next morning I looked for at least some fur or other signs of mayhem. Found nothing. I asked one of our Great River Chapter bird experts, thanks Mary, about what she thought may have been happening. She thought it was most likely baby Barred Owls communicating, demanding, attention from their parents. This was the third vocalization from Barred Owls. That's really two hoots and what l'd call a holler. My knowledge of the repertoire of the Barred Owl was expanding. If your lucky enough to hear their well known hoot they are easy to identify. But that it turns out is only a very tiny part of the vocabulary. Are they really the bards of the bird world?
That brings me to my current read.
"What An Owl Knows - The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds"
by Jennifer Ackerman.
Penguin Press, NY 2023
Turns out the Barred Owl, so common around our woods and even neighborhoods, is in fact very distinguished for its range of vocalizations.
As the author points out.
"Species in the Strix genus (Barred Owls(Strix varia), Tawny Owls, Wood owls) seem to have the most complex hooting patterns, including several different syllable types and highly individualistic modulation and rhythm."
The Tawny Owls win but the Barred is right in there.
She also writes:
"Even among these weird and wondrous hoots and toots, the outrageous squalling, snarling, growling, howling, and caterwauling of the Barred Owl deserves special mention. Once, when Ornithologist Bob Bierregaard was walking through the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina, playing Barred Owl calls to attract the birds, someone asked him whether he had lost his monkey. Later, deep in the woods, he heard the owls powerful bloodcurdling "woman being murdered shriek" directly above him, and it made him jump three feet."
Additionally their mating exuberance is described as "The vocal courtship antics of Barred Owls during the nighttime hours in some suburban neighborhoods can be so full-throated and maniacal they banish sleep."
Now that my narrow knowledge of Barred Owl vocalizations has been expanded I am struck by what an uncommon, common Owl we live with in the Barred. I am more than ever looking forward to spending nights listening to their symphony of calls. What a cool bird is the Barred Owl.
Appendix 1:
Unfortunately the Barred Owl is so successful that it has expanded it's territory to the Northwest where it is in conflict with a smaller cousin.
Nation Jul 3, 2024 11:20 AM EDT
To save the imperiled Spotted Owl from potential extinction, U.S. wildlife officials are embracing a contentious plan to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests to kill almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding out their smaller cousins.
Appendix 2.
Jennifer Ackerman's What An Owl Knows investigates what we know of the approximate two hundred sixty species of owls known today. This is not a field guide but a look at owls distribution, ways they are being studied, their lives, the many ways they have evolved to fill niches world wide and their place in human history. I found the methods scientist have developed to study these enigmatic birds extremely interesting. Ackerman has an engaging writing style that is very inclusive. If you like nature, birds and in particular owls I recommend this book.