Crazy Sounds, Heartfelt Eyes and Everything in-between | The Barred Owl

With Affectionate big dark eyes, the Barred Owl is one to see.
🔴Burrowing Owl video▶️ • The Very Strange and U...
🕒Timestamps and questions:
00:00 Intro
00:34 Where are Barred Owls located
01:15 Habitat Barred Owls like
02:10 Barred Owl Identification
03:39 Similar species to the Barred Owl
04:44 Male and Female Barred Owl
05:03 Best times to find a Barred Owl
06:10 Who Cooks for You: Barred Owl calls and sounds
09:07 What Barred Owls like to eat and other feeding habits
09:33 Barred Owl nesting habits
10:08 Barred Owl nest box
10:53 Barred Owl nesting habits continued
11:58 Barred Owl babies/nestlings / fledglings
12:38 Barred Owl population/conservation
12:53 Barred Owl and Spotted Owl
14:06 The oldest Barred Owl
❓Other common questions answered in this video:
Where do Barred Owls live and what habitat do they like?
How to find a Barred Owl?
What does a Barred Owl look like?
What is the difference between a Male and female Barred Owl?
What does a Barred Owl sound like?
What do Barred Owls like to eat?
What does a Barred Owl nest or nestbox look like
How to build a Barred Owl nest box
What do Barred Owl eggs look like?
What do Barred Owl babies look like?
Where do barred owls live in Canada?
What to do if you see a barred owl?
Why is it called a barred owl?
📷Videos and Photos provided by the following (A-Z)
Aaron Hedetniemi
Instagram: / aaronhedetniemi
Jack Stutts
Instagram: / jackstutts
James McKittrick
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/1928594...
Lesley Brannen
No links provided
Pacificnorthwestkate
KZbin: / pacificnorthwestkate
Instagram: / pacificnorthwestkate
Twitter: / pnwkate
Sophie’s Backyard Wildlife
KZbin: / @sophiesbackyardwildlife
🔗Links:
Barred Owl nest box information from Cornell Lab
nestwatch.org/learn/all-about...
Thumbnail:
Matt Cuda (Bird Portion via Canva)
www.canva.com/photos/MADAlP97...
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#LesleytheBirdNerd #Birds #Birdwatching #Owl

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

🔴Burrowing Owl video ▶kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHbFYZ-AoJaBfNU

[@samwamm85]

We sometimes have some of these owls around here in Scotland, but the local jackdaws keep killing them. They're not native to Scotland and we suspect that they are being released from a falconry in northern England. Whoever keeps doing this can you please stop, you're making the jackdaws far too brave. I had to condition the birds not to attack children in the area. Stop sending us all your owls.

[@DoubleplusUngoodthinkful]

We have a pair of barred owls and they are such a delight. The male ("Barny", as I first met him in my barn) will visit and chat for an hour or more at a time. A few weeks ago, I struck up a fire in our fireplace that we hadn't used since we moved in 2 years ago. A short while later, I heard Barny outside my house calling LOUDLY (not the song...the actual "come here now!" call). I went outside and he got very close and was looking panicked, leaning forward and keeping his wings spread and pointed back. I think he was trying to warn me that my house was on fire. I talked to him calmly trying to let him know there was no problem, and he settled down and went off to hunt.

[@sandysiepert7724]

That is so sweet to hear that you had a connection with Barney. I think he was trying to warn you thinking something was wrong. We have barred owls by our home. The beautiful sounds can be heard throughout the night.

[@kyavner]

We love our barred owl conversations while camping here in Nova Scotia. It used to terrify my 7 year old but I would tell him that the owl just wants to know "who cooks for you?" 😂 Now we laugh every time we hear it!

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

lol to sweet

[@kriswilson2171]

And the dumbasses in the USFS want to kill 400k of them to “save the spotted owls”. Let the better species live…

[@mc12358]

Thank you for putting the spotlight on Strix varia. Lots of Barred Owl habitat near where I live, and I can hear them some nights from my front porch. I got to photograph two owlets that had made it from the nest and into the top of a Cypress tree. Their parents kept feeding them while they built up enough strength to fly.

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

Awesome youtube name! Thank you for the kind donation, appreciate it a lot. That is so awesome about you getting to see the family, and they must be so incredible to listen to at night! Thanks for watching, have a great evening!

[@chriscarlsen2100]

​@@LesleytheBirdNerd how do you make a donation like that?

[@rockjockchick]

@@chriscarlsen2100 i think it’s called a super thanks. Look around the video or in the description.

[@mc12358]

​@chriscarlsen2100 Yes on the KZbin app, a few spaces down from the like/dislike button is a "Thanks" with a dollar sign next to it. You can donate any amount and customize your message.

[@micahbirdlover8152]

@@chriscarlsen2100 I love your picture😊

[@megansfo]

They are fascinating creatures! When I lived in Seattle in a treed area, we had a pair calling to each other who sounded like monkeys or apes. Thank you, Lesley!

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

That is so awesome about you getting to hear a pair. Their calls really are neat, and they certainly do sound like monkeys. Cool birds. Thanks for watching!

[@TimothyB-lb6ek]

@@LesleytheBirdNerd yes, they get WILD sometimes

[@cerberus7.625]

We live in south western British Columbia, the Barred Owls on our hobbie farm make it sound like a Zoo, monkeys and all.

[@micahbirdlover8152]

@@LesleytheBirdNerd I love your picture 🥰

[@HunterBidenCocaineBag]

So that's the owls I hear in my woods! They are amazing to hear! (And almost always at dusk and throughout the night)

[@toddberg3892]

I had a barred owl screech just as I stepped out of the door in total darkness- every hair stood on end and my muscles locked! 😳 It took a moment to realize what it was and I laughed. Didn't know they sometimes use nest boxes, will definitely build one for next year... Stunning clips and photos, and the calls were awesome! Thank you for the video (and the outtakes- they were a hoot!) Have a great evening!🦉

[@bethanythatsme]

I reside deep in the Willamette valley, a rainforest in Oregon, and I'm lucky enough to have a pair of giant & gorgeous barred owls frequenting our property. I've only seen them on very foggy mornings at dawn & feel them looking at me before I spot them way up peering down at me. I love listening to them, but I'll yell ya, the first time I heard that screaming type call in the middle of the night, my hair stood on end 😳 Another great addition to a fantastic channel! Thank you, Leslie 🐦

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

Hahaha I can totally understand how that call would frighten you. I would be no good out in the woods and hearing that sound! WOW. I think it's pretty cool that you got to see them one time and under the most beautiful atmospheric conditions. Must have been beautiful. Thanks so much for watching, I hope you have a wonderful night :)

[@rarebird_82]

Sounds like you live in paradise 😇 We have few native owls here in UK, but I am privileged enough to live near a park and have a pair of resident Tawnies and they can get VERY vocal sometimes 😊 Woohoohoo-hoooo and Kewick! are very much a part of my bedtime routine ❤🦉

[@173jaSon371]

Last summer I had a pair that would cackle maniacally in the spring/summer making mating calls literally 3 ft over my bedroom ceiling EVERY night around 930PM haha. Luckily I dont go to bed early

[@ludlowworthington697]

I have fond memories of camping in the Berkshires, sitting on a mountain top and twilight and hearing various barred owls hooting across the hillside and valleys. At night sometimes one would hoot loudly just above my tent, startling me, but that feeling would quickly be replaced by gratitude for the experience.

[@Suz-e-K]

Iast week in suburban Austin Texas, I had the honor of having 2 barred owls in my backyard trees in the early morning. They were calling back and forth to each other. It was a special moment. ❤

[@papajon62]

I live in Georgia, U.S. My first encounter with this bird was about 3 am in the middle of the night when a pair were calling back and forth. They were not far from our bedroom window since we live by a woods with a creek running through it. Woke me up out of a dead sleep and I sat straight up. Sounded like screaming monkeys! Kinda scary at first until we figured out what was going on.

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

Wow, I can see how that would have been startling. Crazy owls. Thanks for watching. :)

[@micahbirdlover8152]

@@LesleytheBirdNerd great 👍 video

[@qbconnect2883]

Same here. I live in a suburb south of Atlanta. My backyard is wooded and there's a creek and marsh very close by. The calls used to scare me but now it provides a soothing effect. I now get excited and feel blessed to have them around. Some nights during mating seasons it's like a symphony of back n forth chatter that can last for up to an hour.

[@AuthorLHollingsworth]

Such a beautiful bird❤

[@leah1590]

My absolute favorite! Their eyes are so mystical.

[@maria2400]

I absolutely love there face & those eyes.

[@ecaidies]

Barred Owls are beautiful and mysterious creatures! I always enjoy seeing them fly. It's interesting that they are silent flyers.

[@mitchmatthews6713]

Another beautiful creation from above! Thank you, Lesley!

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

So glad you enjoyed it, thank you for watching :)

[@zeldasmith6154]

Evolution is a wonderful process.

[@sirbedevere4944]

​@@zeldasmith6154 I never understood why it can't be both. God(s) gave the ingredients for life, and that life evolved and continues too. Though, that's just my two cents. So let's just appreciate the barred owl..

[@benjaminwatt2469]

only God knows a preditor needs wing feathers that break up wind turbulence to produce silent flight. thats intelligent design not mindless nature

[@UncleMike81]

I overheard a father talking to his daughter while walking in front of my house. He said: You hear that owl?! For years I thought it was an owl too. Nope doves! 🕊️ Love your channel. You show me stuff that's so foreign to my everyday life. Keeps me tied to nature. Thanks for the vids

[@SandiRose2008]

I love the sound the Barred Owl makes! Recently I have one living just inside the woods at my house. 18 years I've lived here, and I've never seen one!! Oh well! Thank you, Lesley!!

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

A testament to how hard it really is to see them. Really cool that you hear them though, Thanks a lot for watching. Hope you have a great night 🐦💙💜

[@TimothyB-lb6ek]

Who cooks for you? LOL

[@terrisomers7843]

I live in Arkansas and I have many barred owls around my area. Some nights they're all around our house, calling back and forth. We've also been lucky enough to have one frequent a huge old pine tree on the property line right behind the house-we've seen it many times since moving here. I never get tired of hearing them. 😊

[@danandtab7463]

this is my favorite owl. I discovered them by my place in Gainesville FL many years go when I had my window open in January (FL, remember) and I heard what I thought was coyotes howling in the distance, then realized that no, it was some weird birds outside closer. I went outside and saw my neighbors looking up at the trees "It's owls!" they said. The sounds you describe here were coming from all of the trees surrounding our buildings. I did some research on the sounds they were making and learned what a barred owl is. I've since moved a bit north and to a new apartment by some thick woods, and there are barred owls hooting in those woods every evening.

[@francineh.7825]

I heard the monkey sounds they make and I had no idea at the time what it was I was hearing and they were really loud. I'm not embarrassed to admit it scared me haha as I was alone in my cottage and it was late at night. Felt like I had been teleported to a jungle!

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

Ha..yep it would have that same effect on me too.

[@kath610]

I love these owls. They are all around our land and I often see one swooping over our creek when I pull into the driveway at night and I love listening to their sounds❤

[@ericjaye329]

Hi, Lesley! Thank you so much for this great Barred Owl video. I have never seen one here in Northeast Pennsylvania, but I hear them often, mostly in late Spring and summer. I was on my computer last year listening to various bird calls late one evening near an open window when I heard one nearby. I happened to be listening to Barred Owl vocalizatons when I received a return call. I played it again, and received another return call. At that point, I discontinued the calls so as not to disappoint the bird if it came seeking a mate. Happily, I heard the call of a second owl that was clearly of the opposite sex. The banter went on for several minutes before fading away. Still one of my all-time favorite birds!

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

What a fun and unexpected experience that must have been, and I'm so glad that there was another caller in the woods for him. Birds lead some pretty fascinating lives. Thanks for watching and sharing your story. It was a pleasure to read. :)

[@micahbirdlover8152]

@@LesleytheBirdNerdgreat video 👍

[@lynnecliffe3056]

Lesley, what great coverage of the Barred Owl! Thank you for the time, research, effort that went into that presentation. Expressions of appreciation go out to those who contributed images as well. After having had the privilege of five Barred Owl sightings starting in the autumn of 2021, I have not come across one for the past year. I carefully scrutinized your contributors images and failed to see one with the full tawny coloured under feather chest exposed. I continue to count it as a privilege to have seen and captured such an image. I also wish to thank you for the kind reminder to be respectful of our feathered friends 'space'.

[@meli.5058]

Dear Lesley. Thank you! I adore that bird. Inspire me.

[@adalouellis5706]

Lesley, what a beauty!! Wonderful footage. This is one of my favorites so far! What a delight. Thank you so much.

[@Jules-zg1ip]

We have barred owls near our cabin in NW Wisconsin....I so love listening to them in the middle of a summer night calling to each other. So calming and beautiful. Now if I could just see one! 😊

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

I hope you get to see one :) Maybe this will be the year ( Fingers crossed for you ) I can totally see how their calls can be so calm and soothing, as long as it's not those crazy frightening ones they make, hahah. Wonderful birds. Thanks for watching, I hope you have a great night 🥰

[@TimothyB-lb6ek]

Who cooks for you

[@micahbirdlover8152]

@@LesleytheBirdNerd 😱barred owls live in Canada

[@micahbirdlover8152]

@@TimothyB-lb6ek funny 🤪

[@micahbirdlover8152]

@@LesleytheBirdNerd I hope I see one🤞

[@katiekane5247]

How I love hearing these majestic birds calling each other across our ridge. While there's some lots still being developed, there's still a lot of woods. Another great video, many thanks.

[@connieh.4689]

Thank you Lesley❤... I would like to add that Cornell has a live camera on a Barred Owl nest. A few days ago, there were eggs she is sitting on...always interesting to watch 😊

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

I've been watching the live cam when I have a few moments to spare. Isn't it wonderful to watch them? Thanks for watching, have a great evening 💙💜🐦

[@jaybrown4753]

Wildlife photography in all it's forms is wonderful. To be able to get close ups of birds always amazes me. I can hear 'em in the trees and rarely spot 'em

[@denisebolton7191]

I've yet to see the barred owls that lives below me on the edge of the river. I've been listening to their calls for years. I want to go to a friends duck blind to see if I can snap a photo or two. They've just got it done. I love hearing them. I've heard most of their calls. Thank you for sharing Lesley. 😊

[@evermore4487]

What a majestic bird! Thank you for the enriching information. (Also, loved the blooper outro)

[@thebirdperch_MI]

Wonderful video with lots of helpful information!! We used to have some very nearby and one landed on a tree branch right outside of my window, just a few days after I said I wanted to see the owl others were seeing! My wish was granted! We used to hear them at night and it's true, they are very loud!! Such beautiful creatures!!

[@nadinetasmania]

Stunning owl and you have given us a great insight into their world!

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

Wonderful :) Thank you for watching!

[@maineiacts]

🐦Another FANTASTIC and Fascinating Informational BirdNerd Production Lesleyl!!! As it so happens, we are somewhat fortunate to have a pair nesting (?) close to our house in either the large Spruce, or big hardwood burr oak possibly.. Seemed most years we would hear some off and on, especially Fall or Spring into Summer...Then for z couple years, nothing. So delighted to hear them again!! One time I swear there were several out back doing the mating call cacaphony!! Comical lol!! They are so elusive and I never see them. I have gotten photos in the past when hubby and I would drive the back roads.... However,, gas, wear and tear on all ( car, us, camera) lol takes a pricey toll... Love your scenics! That sunset or sunrise is DAZZLING!!! !I've to see more!! I'm expecting to get out to the park for sky -storm cloud shots possibly...this year.. Thank You and Keep up the Beautiful work!! Happy Easter also! Your Birdy Fan, Mindi 🐣🕊🐧🦃🐓🐔🙋

[@catboxcleaner3532]

The gentle, calming hoots of an owl are such a rare pleasure. Kudos, Lesley.

[@h.s.thompsonduke8105]

I have at least one pair in the city woods behind my house, and they have been there several years. During the daytime, they do battle with the hawks, chasing each other between houses and over our pool area. Come night, they begin with their calls back and forth. By 10:00 PM, they sound like howler monkeys. By 5:00AM, the show ends. Soooo cool!

[@GiacomodellaSvezia]

A working day in an urban environment is a good day with a nature video, especially a quiet one with a calm voice-over, and a laugh at the end.

[@CrayonEater5000]

Barred owls are so damn precious

[@kforest2745]

Owls are indeed deep beauties

[@cherylbenton7107]

All day today I've been hearing a barred owl in the woods next to my house. ❤

[@evanlucas8914]

Love hearing these guys. It tells me I'm in an older and healthy forest. They tend to despise the crowded understory of young forests as it gives them very little space to glide. So if I'm camping at night and I hear a barred owl it always feels special. Like something telling me "this is a holy place, drink it in, but tread gently."

[@henrybrylowski1332]

I love hearing these owls while I'm out in the woods. But, then again owls in general are my favorite birds of pray😁😁😁

[@SteelTyrant527]

Ill never forget the conversations I shared with hoot owls when I used to go squirrel hunting and my trusty owl call with me. Fantastic memories.

[@OutsideTheTargetDemographic]

When I bought my property (In Northern Ohio) 7 years ago, I bought it as an as-is foreclosure. Meaning I had to mow it. All 2.5 acres of it. Nipple high. With a push mower. During the mow, I felt.....like I was being watched. Sure enough, a barred owl was watching me, maybe 20 yards away. "Oh, COOL! What are the odds that---oh God I'm mowing down his hunting ground" 😢. Now there is a family of at least three, either in our back woods or the park across the street. They seem most chatty on rainy evenings. Never understood why they hoot at night, when they...are...hunting....🤔

[@nicsxnin6786]

I had a great horned owl that used to follow me and my 3 rotties around at night. I’m in north Texas so summers are too hot to exercise Rottweiler dogs in during the day and sometimes even at night. He would sit on the diving rock on our pool and watch us as the dogs rested with a chew toy after a walk around our 11 acres or rounds of ball chasing. It was startling sometimes to look up and see him flying not far above my head silently. I always used to think he was just habituated to us as co creatures of the night and grew to enjoy our company but more likely we scared prey into making mistakes as we roamed the darkness and he just waited with us when resting until we got back out to scare up some more mice or rabbits. 😊

[@StonedustandStardust]

Thank you for including the calls. One recent night our resident Barred owl & Co made sounds we had not heard before. This confirms for me, that He has a mate this year! I will watch the trees in our yard for daytime owl movements.

[@gailnewcomb8256]

We had a pair in our little grove of mesquite trees a few years ago. I’ve since moved, but the owls would sit outside our window at night and hoot to each other. I loved them. ❤

[@user-cj4ov2ie4j]

I built a Barred Owl house and put it about 30 ft up in a tree behind my house in SC in Nov 2019. It was vacant until this spring when we got tenants. There is no camera inside but based on observed behavior, I think the chicks have hatched. In any event, we get to watch the adults come and go when we are lucky and get to hear them just about every day. It makes me happy. Thank you Leslie. I enjoy your stuff.

[@KDT1982]

My wife and I really appreciate your knowledge and love for nature.

[@WarrenPeace007]

The best thing about this channel is Lesley’s voice. I could listen to it all day

[@GreatGray8790]

I just saw a pair of these in a rural park this evening. They are sedentary birds so it is probably the same pair I have seen in that park last year and the year before. Barred Owl caterwauling is the best sound in the woods!

[@StarDreamMemories]

I love their calls. They are in my woods.

[@JohnnyUtah15]

I remember my first encounter with hearing barred owls when my dad moved us out into the country where his grandpa had land. The land was split 3 ways between my great uncle, great aunt, and my grandma. My great uncle’s and grandma’s property were next to each other. On my great uncle’s property, there was a huge oak tree and a big barn near my grandma’s property, and close to the gravel road. There is a little strip of land across the road, and a bayou runs parallel to the road with trees lining the banks and beyond. One of my great uncle’s daughters lived in the house on his property with her family, and she invited my brother and I to watch movies she rented. Yep, this was the early-mid ‘80s. She had rented Halloween, Friday the 13th 1 & 2. After watching the movies, we began to walk back home on the gravel road near midnight. With no street lights, and dim security lights at both houses, we pick up a handful of gravel, lol. Yeah, we were spooked from the movies. As we pass the barn, and come up on the tree, a barred owl started hooting as we approached. Hair stood up on just about every part of my body, and to add more to the fear factor, there was either an armadillo or possum that scrambled on the side of the gravel road into the wooded area near the bayou. My brother and I started throwing rocks towards the woods as we hightailed it to the house. 😂😂😂 Later, I would listen to the barred owls from my room at night. What was awesome to hear was the barred owl in the oak tree hoot, and I would hear other barred owls across the bayou call back. What made it even better, was the bayou would intensify the sound. Coupled that with the coyotes, and it was pretty cool to listen to.

[@williamkelley2738]

There's a group of these beautiful creatures here in the Midwest around Kansas City in the country I love listening to their monkey calls

[@janellemiller277]

One of the things I miss while wintering in Arizona is the presence of these owls in our Oregon backyard.

[@mrs.g.9816]

I live at the edge of a rural town in Northern Vermont, where it's absolutely quiet, especially at night. Across the valley from my house are hills covered with dense forest. I sometimes awake rather early in the morning, and if I'm lucky, I'll hear the "Who cooks for you?" calls of the barred owl. They echo through the pitch black forest. The calls are mysterious but strangely comforting. BTW - I'm a transplanted city girl. I originally lived in a large noisy city in lower New York State, and had yet to learn about the barred owl and other wildlife of the area. In the first week living in my new home, I was out on my front stoop at night. I happened to hear the calls of a barred owl and thought, "Who's that joker?" I assumed it was a drunk "howling at the moon"! 🤣

[@jeffmatthews3798]

I watched a breeding pair for years in exactly the environment described. I eventually left a lawn chair to sit in within 50 yards of an annual nesting site. The pair would regularly come to watch me sit. If I walked my dog in the same woods one of the owls would follow. I discovered that the dog was spooking mice from under logs and the owl would try to catch them. They make a peculiar sound when angry or threatened. It is a loud clicking sound, like hammering on a board with a stick. I’ve heard/seen them attack a raccoon too close to a nest. The attack was preempted with the clicking. Wonderful bird to watch. Thank you for program.

[@sal3060]

We had one roosting about 40' up on a pine branch overhanging the driveway. He was magnificent. The first time we heard the Mating Boogie sounds.... scared the hell out of us. Sounded like hyenas. Amazing birds!

[@phonotical]

One time someone bought owls for us to see and have pictures with, probably the only time I've seen one, there was a huge owl that flew over us, but maybe the memory cheats about its size, considering I live in what is considered countryside here in the uk, I don't hear them at all 😢 Tell a lie, I thought I saw one once, and I was very excited, trying to get a picture with my phone and then after a while, as I got closer, I found it was some kind of wind ornament with its head turning with the wind, nailed to a tree 😑😅 As a child I'd hear noises that I always thought were owls, but it was just a wood pigeon! I'd hear them calling down the chimney 😁 Your video now makes me want to try and find one out!

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

That is so funny about the Ornament, I can see myself doing something similar, haha! Thank you for watching :)

[@phonotical]

@@LesleytheBirdNerd I felt so stupid, I bet there was someone in the house behind it watching me and laughing😂 Thank you for making it and putting such effort in! The outtakes were funny as heck 😊

[@njg5942]

Thanks for the great intro to barred owls! You are so good at this.

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

That is so kind of you to say. Thanks a bunch :)

[@danbev8542]

Another wonderful video, Lesley! Thank you! I live in rural Maryland with woods and a creek in our backyard. We love to hear our very loud barred owls almost daily! Their calls are LOUD! We’ve been here 30 years and have heard them most of that time!

[@LadyYoop]

This is sooooooo beautiful....thank you Bird Goddess!

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

Thank you so much!

[@FisherKot11235]

I’ve been watching the same pair of barred owls for 9 almost 10 years. I see them every day. They’ve had 8 clutches so far. They’re like family to me. (Eastern Massachusetts)

[@RepublicofE]

I feel so lucky to live where they are all over the place, while people flock to Central Park in NYC whenever one shows up there.

[@artmakersworlds]

OH these guys are cool. There is a woods not too far from me where I would often go and stay out till the wee hours of the morning. Usually with my dog, and every single dog I've taken there had the same reaction. One owl would do that first call you shared, that "who cooks for you" one from way on one corner of the woods. Then clear on the opposite side of where I'd be sitting, one would answer the first. And my dog would always look up at me and cringe with a look like WTF????? One day, just about dusk, an owl flew RIGHT over my head and pounced on a mouse that was only about 10' ahead of me on the path. I never heard a sound. They are amazing.

[@MC-qb1jg]

We have barred owl here in northeast Florida. They are so wonderful.

[@lenwenzel7440]

I love it, especially those interesting calls. I I've on Vancouver Island, and have a Great Horned owl that comes occasionally visiting at night. I'm in Victoria. Nearby in Colwood I've found several Barred Owls in the forest behind Royal Roads University. It's a great area for wildlife. Lots of deer, Corvids (Crows, and Ravens) and the occasional Couger.

[@maxavallone7510]

Great video as always! I just saw one a week ago in my backyard making it iconic call! It flew away and I have it on video! As silent as a mouse!

[@jean-marclariviere7618]

What an amazing video...wow thank you so so much...been lucky to have daily visits of a beautiful barred owl lately...many days in a row....right there at 40 feet from my house..and 2 days ago, was treated by a really over vocal one...for 30 minutes...it was amazing as always...still so much snow around here and having that amazing bird perched right there...cannot ask for more....thank you again...big fan of yours...

[@rosymelanie]

I feel incredibly lucky that a month ago, when I was walking my dog around my neighborhood around 8 or 9 am, a barred owl flew up into a tree across the street from me. It stayed perched in that tree when I approached, and leaned down and looked into my eyes as if interested a few times. I've been around captive hawks and other birds of prey who seem to look through you as if you don't matter to them, so this was a unique experience.

[@happybergner9832]

They're amazing and beautiful

[@ginam.decarosusana1171]

...heard these recently in my woods behind my home-- amazing !

[@Perigrene101]

A couple years ago, I found an injured Barred Owl on the road near my home. It was soaked from the rain and was so stunned and passive that I was able to pick it up, put in the front seat next to me the rest of the way home, and then set it in a blanketed plastic tub for the night. I took it to a licensed vet clinic a few towns over to get looked and and hopefully treated. I knew that its mate lived in my neighborhood and enjoyed their presence. In fact, his mate seemed to know that I had taken him and she kept coming to my bedroom porch for a few days after I had taken him to the vet. Unfortunately, the clinic euthanized him, citing severe and unrecoverable blunt force trauma (likely due to a car). The day after I got the news, I once again found his mate on my porch staring at me as though she knew. I felt terrible. Bleeding heart that I am, I apologized and explained to her what had happened. As if she could understand me, but it made me feel a little better I guess 🙄. After that I didn't see her except for a couple times the rest of the year. I figured she would eventually leave and find another mate. Cut forward to last year. I'm coming home from my late night of work and pull into my driveway to find THREE Barred Owl youths all perched on the electric lines above my driveway. In the shadows I can see a small male Barred Owl perched on the power line going to my house. Sitting with the youths and in full illumination of the street light was the female Barred Owl from the previous year. It felt as though she was telling me that she was ok and I didn't need to guilt myself over her previous mate's death. I sat in the driveway for an hour crying and enjoying the moment. The father obviously very cautious, the mother less so, and the youths all bobbing their heads and looking and me with curiosity. They kept coming every night for about a week and I would sit on the hood of my car for a little while, each time, to watch and be thankful. I still see and hear the Barred Owls every now and again and hope that they will visit me again this year.

[@georgemcduffey2622]

I've never seen one, but my son and I heard a pair while rough camping in the Red River Gorge in Kentucky (Late June 2022, for seasonal context). The sun had just set, I was starting to drift off to sleep when I thought I heard someone yelling from a ways off. The "yelling" started getting closer; This roused me up, and we ended up listening to two of them calling back and forth from either side of our dwellings for maybe a half-hour. I memorized two of the calls and when we got back to civilization I started sifting through owl calls online 'til I found my answer. Cool creatures.

[@basicbreakfast]

The best breakfast viewing! Southern NH here, last night at dusk a pair put on quite a concert for over 15 minutes. Following morning here you are😁

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

That is great timing. Awesome! And I'm super jealous that you get to hear these fascinating owls.

[@gemzoey1313]

So absolutely beautiful!!❤❤❤

[@maryclarafjare]

This video is EXQUISITE. Thank you!! (I also liked the bloopers at the end 😂)

[@clockWorks10]

I was inspired to research this bird because I can always hear one hooting away behind my apartment. I live right next to a nature preserve, and I can hear his call frequently. Such cool birds.

[@freddykagin]

Thank you for sharing this. Make sense. 😊

[@freddykagin]

Beautiful owl 🦉

[@jammcc176]

About 40 years ago, I was staying in a cabin in central New York. At night, I heard a barred owl in the distance. I happened to have with me a tape of the owl's call, so I played it hoping to draw it closer. While it continued to answer my tape, it came no nearer. Then all of a sudden, I knew why. Over my head in the tree near which I was standing a second barred owl let rip with his call. It was so entirely unexpected that I nearly left my skin. Thanks for another fine video.

[@lonnieclemens8028]

Thank you for sharing this video Lesilie. Barred Owls are probably my favorite. They are spooky and have a variety of vocals. I like doing night photography around wooded areas. My first encounter with a Barred Owl was a scary experience. I was photographing a river at night. Had a camera on a tripod stand doing stiill photography. It was about 1:30 AM. I thought I was alone in the woods. But a Barred Owl made such an unusual noise. It sounded like a 16 feet tall monster. Was fortunate enough to catch the call in a recording. It took a few days to determine it was a Barred Owl. I am a fan!!!!

[@uscameloptics]

What a majestic bird!

[@173jaSon371]

This was my "spark bird" that got me to dive into birding and photography last summer. I had seen one right beside a rural dirt road I would hike and drive along sometimes and instantly was like "ok, I need to get a picture of an owl so everyone believes I've been seeing them." Fast forward 2 weeks and after borrowing a backup-camera from my mother who has done wildlife photography for over 10 years, and boom! Found one and got some ok-ish pictures and I was HOOKED. Since then, I have had over 30 Owl encounters across Missouri and Illinois, including an Eastern Screech and 3 Great Horned Owl sightings, the rest being Barred. I even had a single day where I saw 10 different individuals in a stretch of 4 hours. My 2023 count is somewhere around 25. Last year I think I saw about 8 from July-December, but I've built up a lot of experience in that small amount of time and found a number of locations to visit. It really does suck though that they are negatively impacting the Spotted Owls though, since they occupy the exact same habitats.

[@ladyknieval]

I miss these guys in my small town Iowa neighborhood. They were plentiful for a couple of years, saw them everyday. Counted five at once, most likely three of them off spring. I still hear the monkey call every once in a while though!

[@lukeyznaga7627]

fabulous beautiful bird. cuddly, but tough -a good hunter. I think he/she is magical and when you hear it when you are camping, you are blessed.

[@actipton80]

I have these in my area, and during breeding season I have heard them hooting at all hours. When I volunteered at the raptor center, I was the aviary caretaker for the display Barred owls for years. There were six of them in the aviary, and if one started hooting, they would all join in as would some of the rehab patients in other cages and maybe even a local wild one or two.

[@donp9492]

Congrats on hitting 200 thousand subscribers. You definitely deserve it. Love to hear the owls.

[@cjaracz2757]

How timely!!! We have just had them move into our woods and your video was very informative. I saw four of them !

[@GailKuzyszyn]

We once had a barred owl in our backyard and went outside to look at it and it didn't give a hoot. It just stared at us.

[@blacksunshine7122]

I'll never forget my first encounter with a barred owl ❤ it was amazing!

[@nicksweeney5176]

0:06 So many of the forest's fallen are fallen at the talons of these self same Barreds.

[@pickles3128]

We have one that hangs out in our neighbor's yard; occasionally I hear a rabbit cry as it gets a meal. As a child, a MDC volunteer speaker told us the "who cooks for you, who cooks for y'all?!" identifying call and I've always remembered it. We had to cut down our 70-year-old elms because some ---- decided to top them 40 years prior.

[@marylongoria9431]

What a wonderful video! Thank you Lesley ❤

[@GratefulDeb270]

Thank you! ❤

[@LesleytheBirdNerd]

You're welcome 😊

[@bunsfortheblind]

Absolutely beautiful. Powerful bird.

[@Daysleeper1000]

We love these sweet, little barred owl buddies in North Texas. They're quite vocal, especially Feb through April.

[@SR-gz6fx]

I love hearing these when camping, amazing how far they echo through the deep woods!

[@brightmooninthenight2111]

These guys sound so cool in the swamp at night. Their macabre and mysterious hoots are amplified and echoed almost as if in a cave.