Barred Owl
Scientific name
Strix varia
about the species
Listen for the Barred Owl’s distinct “Who Cooks For You?” call in the evening. Barred Owl pairs call in duets during winter and spring courtship, with the larger female producing a higher pitch than the smaller male. Pairs typically produce 1-5 eggs per year. Young owls begin to leave the nest at 4-5 weeks of age, staying close to their parents and attempting their first flights around 10 weeks of age. This woodland owl species is a generalist predator, eating mammals, birds, invertebrates, and amphibians. Like other owls, the Barred Owl regurgitates indigestible prey remains in the form of pellets. These remains, including bones and fur, can be identified by scientists to learn more about the Barred Owl’s role in the food web. Through the work World Bird Sanctuary (WBS) does with accepting and rehabilitating injured raptors, it is quite obvious the Barred Owl is not only the most common owl in the greater St. Louis area, it is the most common raptor in the area. While they are more common in riparian habitat, they can be found in forest habitats far from water. If there is a limiting factor to their status in the area, it seems to be forests/trees that are too young to have cavities for them to nest in.
conservation status
Least concern (Population stable)
How we’re tracking this species
Several Barred Owl pairs call Forest Park home. We have put a GPS tag on an adult female Barred Owl in Kennedy woods, and plan to deploy more GPS tags in the future. We also collected health samples from this owl, including feather samples and swabs. We are collecting owl pellets to determine what Forest Park’s owls prey on.
