While great horned owls usually hunt on upland meadows and crop fields, the barred owl favors bottomland forest, wooded swamps and stream valleys. Visit a wetland in March or April and you have a good chance of hearing its distinctive call, which, unlike those of other owls, is often delivered during the day.
Easily recognized by its dark eyes, bulky frame, grayish, streaked plumage and round, "earless" head, the barred owl is common throughout the eastern U.S. and increasingly common in the Pacific Northwest. Reclusive and skittish, barred owls must often be viewed from a distance and are best observed at dusk. Their varied diet includes mice, crayfish, frogs, cottontails and small birds.
Barred owls nest in late February or early March, using a tree cavity or the abandoned nest of a hawk; the young hatch by early April. Though their call can be heard throughout the year, it is most common and persistent during this breeding season. I know I will always associate "Who, who, who cooks for you?" with the warming days of early spring.
