Owls: A bird you hear at night but rarely catch a glimpse of during the day. What’s the story with this ever-elusive fowl?
Throughout history, owls have had a solid place in storytelling. Today we appreciate owls for their role in the environment as well as for their enjoyable calls.
The barred owl, great horned owl and eastern screech-owl are commonly found in our area. These owls frequently call during winter.
The barred owl prefers deep woods around rivers and swamps. Barred owls usually save their choruses for the darker hours. Their hooting pattern sounds like, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” Should you be a barred owl, try calling back. They usually respond to imitated calls and sometimes even approach the caller.
The legendary “hoot owl” is the great horned owl. These owls like forests, suburbs, city parks and open countryside. Their call is a series of hoots, similar in quality to the barred owl’s. And they too will respond when you imitate their call.
The little screech-owl likes farms, towns, woods and orchards. Its call is not a screech or a hoot, but a soft, mournful whinny. The call sounds spooky if you don’t know its origin.
On some still winter night, find a quiet woods and listen for the sounds of the moonlight choir.
Owls, owls, owls
- Smaller eastern screech-owl eats smaller prey—beetles, grasshoppers, moths, mice, shrews, moles, crayfish, fish, frogs and small birds. Like other owls, this species uses its exceptional senses of hearing and sight to home in on its targets.
- A great horned owls has wide-set ear tufts, a reddish, brown or gray face and a white throat. The iris is yellow. The upper parts are mottled brown; the underparts are light with brown barring.
- Great horned owls help reduce populations of mice, rats and other rodents that can be troublesome for humans.
- Barred owls lose habitat with the removal of large dead trees suitable for nesting. Other problems include stream pollution, collisions with cars and predation and competition by great horned owls.
Read up on all owl species in the MDC’s Field Guide.
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