It began about 10 PM last evening. A mix of hissing, piercing cries and hysterical hoots rose from the backyard. Initially thinking that it may be a cat fight, I went to the back door but, without a working flashlight (don't tell Jim Cantore), I couldn't see a thing. Then, the riotous outburst gave way to the distinct call of the barred owl and I knew from what the craziness arose.
Barred owls favor wooded swamplands and ravines and I often hear them calling from a creekside forest down the road. Preferring seclusion during the day, they hunt for mice, birds and small cottontails at night and may turn up in residential areas. Their call, an eight hoot sequence (often described as "who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all?") is higher pitched than the deep hoots of the great horned owl and may be preceded by the cacophony described above.
These dark-eyed owls generally nest in late winter and their downy young (usually 2 to 4) hatch by late March. Last night's visitor may have been a mother, hunting for its brood, or just a lone adult, out to stir up the neighborhood!
