page_title: Barred owl
section_title: Behavior
hierarchical_section_title: Barred owl / Behavior
caption_attribution_description: English: Barred Owl, Ontario, Canada
context_page_description: The barred owl, also known as the northern barred owl or, more informally, hoot owl, is a large species of owl. A member of the true owl family, Strigidae, they belong to the genus Strix, which is also the origin of the family’s name under Linnaean taxonomy. Barred owls are brown to gray overall, with dark striping on the underside contrasted immediately above that with similarly-dark and tight barring about their throat and nape. Barred owls are largely native to eastern North America, but have expanded their range to the west coast of North America where they are considered invasive. Mature forests are their preferred habitat, but they can also acclimate to various gradients of open woodlands. Their diet consists mainly of small mammals, but this species is an opportunistic predator and is known to prey upon other small vertebrates such as birds, reptiles, and amphibians, as well as a variety of invertebrates.
  Barred owls are brown to gray overall, with dark striping on the underside. Barred owls have typical nesting habits for a true owl, tending to raise a relatively small brood often in a tree hollow or snag in forested areas.
context_section_description: The barred owl, like most owls, is largely adapted to nocturnality. Between 5:00 am and 8:00  pm, juvenile barred owls were recorded to sleep an average of 28% of each hour. Peak times in Minnesota were found to be right after sunset and just before dawn. Nonetheless, they are not as fully nocturnal as many owls and rank around 6th amongst 19 regular North American owl species for the regularity of their activity outside of nightfall, especially in particular circumstances such as when a rival or a human impersonator is emitting barred owls calls or whilst hunting. Often daytime activity tends to be early in the morning or around dusk but potentially at any time (overcast days being preferred). In Juneau, Alaska, the barred owl when compared in a study to other owl species was considered "non-linear" in activity, with the peak discernible recorded activity time based on vocalization being right at sunset rather than after it. This species often spends the daytime hidden away in dense foliage of a tree, often at minimum 5 m (16 ft) above the ground, but sometimes also roosts in branch close to a broad trunk or in a natural tree hollow. Roost tree heights in Minnesota was typically 8 to 12 m (26 to 39 ft) while, in Illinois, they were up to 9 m (30 ft). Recently fledged owls sometimes roost in tall grass, usually after falling from the nest tree. 
  Roost site selection may be partially dictated by thermoregulation, as in spotted owls, with shadier roosts likely to mitigate heat stress. They seldom rely on camouflage, instead often flying at the least disturbance and not allowing close approaches, making them potentially difficult to observe. Yet, on the other hand, they can be surprisingly tame and seemingly curious of people in the wild; further they are considered "as mild and engaging" as a predator can be. Barred owls are regularly subject to mobbing by small birds, from several small passerines to corvids and woodpeckers, and mammals when discovered by them during the daytime, and such situations may lead to them being attacked by diurnal birds of prey. There are some records of barred owls engaging in allopreening, presumably between pairs, with each other in the wild. They are skilled and silent fliers and frequently use routine forest flyways with open understory and low branch densities. 
  Like most species of owl in the Strix genus, the barred owl tends to be highly territorial regardless of the time of year. The territories are claimed by singing from different perches, often near the perimeter of its perceived home range. The boundaries are almost always well-maintained by barred owls and are generally stable from year to year and even generation to generation. Territory sizes have been determined via radio telemetry. The average territory size of 13 in Minnesota was 273 ha (670 acres), of 7 in Michigan it was 282 ha (700 acres) and of 10 in Wisconsin was 337.9 ha (835 acres). Another Minnesota study found pairs to occupy a mean of about 226 ha (560 acres) in mixed hardwood-conifer woods. Pairs in an Oklahoma study were reportedly found every 110 to 165 ha (270 to 410 acres). The mean territory size from 10 studies were estimated from throughout the range. In this study, the breeding season mean area was calculated at 256.7 ha (634 acres) in males and 297.8 ha (736 acres) in females; whereas the means in nonbreeding season were 900.4 ha (2,225 acres) in males and 536.2 ha (1,325 acres) in females. Overall, the annual mean home range for males was 782 ha (1,930 acres) and for females was 538.7 ha (1,331 acres). The breeding range’s mean home size in Washington was 321 ha (790 acres), while it was 971 ha (2,400 acres) in the non-breeding season. When territorial boundaries move, it is often correlated to reduced food supplies. 
  The ranges of pairs overlaps in the breeding season, at 87–95% range overlap, but decreases down to 45% after hatching. In a Florida study of barred owls, territorial responses, including several duets, by a pair were found to be provoked by researchers playing calls of both "stranger" owls 
caption: Barred pattern, Ontario, Canada
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