Barred Owl

About the barred owl

The barred owl, also known as the northern barred owl, striped owl, or informally the hoot owl or eight hooter, is a large North American owl. It belongs to the true owl family Strigidae and the genus Strix, which also gives the family its name under Linnaean taxonomy. The species was first described by Philadelphia naturalist Benjamin Smith Barton in 1799, named for the varied directions its dusky underside markings run. Barred owls are largely native to eastern North America but have expanded westward to the U.S. west coast, where they're now considered invasive, encroaching on the range of the related and threatened spotted owl — a spread serious enough that biologists have recommended culling operations to limit its impact on that species.

In coloring, the barred owl is subdued compared to some of the other owls it shares range with — overall greyish-brown or brown, scalloped with white bars on the mantle and back and some whitish spotting on the wing coverts. The underside carries a pale, creamy gray-brown base color, with horizontal, slightly crescent-shaped barring across the throat and upper chest — the origin of its common name — and bold vertical streaking on the belly. The head is fairly large and rounded with no ear tufts, the facial disc pale grayish-brown with subtle darker rings, the bill pale straw-yellow, and the eyes dark brown, appearing almost black in the field. As in most owls, the barred owl's flight feathers are soft with a comb-like edge that renders its flight functionally silent during hunts.

The species measures 40 to 63 cm (16 to 25 in) in length with a wingspan of 96 to 125 cm (38 to 49 in). As with most birds of prey, females run larger than males — sometimes described as reverse sexual dimorphism — with males in the nominate subspecies typically weighing 468 to 812 g (1.03 to 1.79 lb) and the notably larger females ranging from 610 to 1,150 g (1.34 to 2.54 lb), a difference of roughly a third in some populations. Three subspecies are recognized, varying by region in coloring, size, and toe feathering: the northern barred owl (S. v. varia) across the northeastern U.S. and upper Midwest, extending as far south as Oklahoma and northern Georgia and including the invasive western populations; the smaller southern or Florida barred owl (S. v. georgica) found from coastal southern North Carolina through Georgia and Florida; and the Texas barred owl (S. v. helveola), paler and gingery-cream in tone, found chiefly in Texas.

Behavior and diet

Barred owls favor mature forest as their preferred habitat but can adapt to various grades of open woodland as well. Their diet consists mainly of small mammals, though the species is an opportunistic predator that also takes other small vertebrates, including birds, reptiles, and amphibians, along with a range of invertebrates. Typical nesting habits for a true owl include raising a relatively small brood, often in a tree hollow or snag within forested habitat, though other nest sites are sometimes used.

The barred owl is an unusually vocal species, with a range of calls described as "spectacular, loud and emphatic" that can carry over 0.8 km (0.5 mi). Its best-known call is a series of eight accented hoots, commonly rendered by the mnemonic "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all" — the origin of its "eight hooter" nickname. Other documented calls include an "ascending" or "legato" call ending in a rising oo-aw or hoo-aah, an "inspection call" most often heard during daylight, and a variety of cackles, hoots, caws, and gurgles, ranging from "sudden demonic laughter" to "cat-like screams." A grumbling "mumble" call and a high-pitched "twitter" round out its vocabulary, and when agitated the owl produces a buzzy hiss and clicks its beak. Calls happen most at night but also occur during the day, especially in response to playback or human imitation, with peak vocalization times between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. and seasonal peaks just before breeding and again after young disperse.

Range and habitat

The barred owl is distributed throughout most of the eastern United States and much of southern Canada, reaching as far northeast as western Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and parts of Quebec and Ontario, with records as far north as central Labrador (though breeding there is unconfirmed). Its range continues south through New England, the Mid-Atlantic, much of the Midwest, and the Southeast United States. Mature forest is the species' preferred habitat, though it tolerates a range of more open woodland types as well. The barred owl has also expanded its range westward to the Pacific coast of North America, including California and British Columbia — a genetically distinct population, given an estimated divergence of around 7,000 years from eastern birds, that is now considered invasive in territory long occupied by the spotted owl.

Conservation status

The barred owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, based on a 2024 BirdLife International assessment. Far from declining, it has been expanding its range westward across North America in recent decades.

That expansion is itself a conservation problem for other owls. Barred owls have moved into the range of the related and threatened spotted owl, competing with it for territory and food, and evidence suggests the pressure on spotted owls is increasing. Biologists have recommended culling barred owls in some areas specifically to reduce that pressure. Their arrival has also been linked to declines of the western screech owl in British Columbia and on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where barred owls prey on the smaller owls.