Click photo to see complete painting

Barred Owl

Status Uncommon resident. Breeds. Our most common owl. Occurs in woods of old growth and is seldom seen elsewhere. It is more common some years than others, but whether this results from a shifting or fluctuation of the local population or from an influx of wanderers from outside has not been determined. The appearance of birds on Seal Island on 12 October 1975, Sable Island on 10 November 1975 and Brier Island on 3 September 1977 seem to reflect such movements, but an individual on Sable Island on 31 July 1966 was seasonally anomalous.

Description Length: 50-56 cm. Adults: No ear tufts. Eyes nearly black. Upperparts grayish brown, the feathers mottled with light gray. Underparts white, barred with dark brown across the breast and similarly striped below and on sides. Bill yellowish brown; legs and feet feathered to the ends of toes.

Breeding Nest: Usually 4 to 12 m up in a hollow hardwood tree in mixed hard and soft growth. No lining is used other than owl feathers and rotted wood matted together. Eggs: 2-3, usually 3; dull white and rounded ovate. Laying begins early in April, as indicated by a nest at Black River which contained three heavily incubated eggs on 17 April 1925. Another, examined on 24 May 1926 at Albany, Annapolis County, contained one very young owlet and a pipped egg. A nest at Jordan Falls, Shelburne County, contained three downy young on 12 June 1910. It was in a beech tree about 9 m up, in what appeared to be the dilapidated, long-unused nest of a Goshawk (H.F. Tufts). Of 21 nests I have recorded, all were in hollow trees except this last-mentioned one. A most unusual nesting location was brought to my attention on 17 May 1968. In the front yard of Fenwick Wood's residence at Coldbrook, Kings County, not over 20 m from the front door, a pair of these owls had chosen a natural crevice in an aged elm, where they successfully raised three husky owlets.

Range Primarily an eastern bird, it now ranges in Canada as far west as the Pacific Coast, and south to Florida, the Gulf Coast and Mexico.

Remarks This owl and the very rare Common Barn-Owl are the only two of Nova Scotia's 11 owls that have dark blue-black eyes instead of the yellow ones so typical of the family. It is largely a nocturnal hunter, spending the daylight hours in comparative seclusion among thick evergreens. Like all owls it has a variety of calls, but the usual and most distinctive one may be written as whoo-whoo-whoo-who-whoo to-whoo-ah, with strong accent placed on the final whoo. This call is most often heard just prior to and during the nesting season, and on calm nights it can be heard for a kilometre or more. When a human intruder approaches the vicinity of an occupied nest, the parents, together or singly, usually appear on the scene and often show anxiety and hostility by viciously snapping their beaks.

The Barred Owl is not easily confused with any other of our owls, with the possible exception of the Great Gray, which is considerably larger, has yellow eyes and is so rare in Nova Scotia that even one is not likely to be encountered in a lifetime.