Barred Owl - Sleepy Owl

Walking the trail at a local park one day I noticed this barred owl not far off sleeping in the tree. I didn't really like the face-to-face shot so I... more

by Chad Meyer

Title

Barred Owl - Sleepy Owl

Artist

Chad Meyer

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

Walking the trail at a local park one day I noticed this barred owl not far off sleeping in the tree. I didn't really like the face-to-face shot so I thought this would be better at an angle with a bit of sunlight filtering through the trees.

Taken at Shelley Lake Park in Raleigh, North Carolina

The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California.

Barred Owls are easiest to find when they are active at night—they’re a lot easier to hear than to see. Visit forests near water (big bottomland forest along a river is prime Barred Owl habitat) and listen carefully, paying attention for the species’ barking “Who cooks for you?” call. At great distance, this can sound like a large dog. Try imitating the call with your own voice and then wait quietly. If you’re lucky, a territorial Barred Owl will fly in to investigate you. During the daytime, a quiet walk-through mature forest might reveal a roosting Barred Owl if you are lucky.

Uploaded

August 17th, 2021