(Redirected from
Barred owl)
The barred owl, Strix varia, is a large owl. It goes by many other names, including eight hooter, rain owl, wood owl, and striped owl, but is probably known best as the hoot owl.
Adults have a pale face with dark rings around the eyes, a yellow bill and dark eyes. The underparts are light with brown streaks; the upper parts are mottled brown. There are brown bars on the chest. The legs and feet are covered in feathers up to the talons. This owl does not have ear tufts.
Their breeding habitat is dense woods across Canada and the eastern United States. The nest is often in a tree cavity; it may also take over an old nesting site used by a crow or squirrel.
They are permanent residents, but may wander after the nesting season.
These birds wait on a high perch at night or fly through woods and swoop down on prey. They may also hunt near dawn or dusk. They mainly eat small mammals, such as mice and rabbits, also small birds.
The call is a whoo-whoo-whoo-whoo-whooo-ah (sometimes rendered 'Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?'). This owl may be displaced from more open woods by the Great Horned Owl.
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