Saturday, March 07, 2009

romance of the 8 hooters

Barred owls like the one I see in the woods in back of my house are also called 8 hooters because of their distinctive call. Today I heard one at some distance from the house, and then our own answered very near by. What does this mean? could there be romance in the woods? The only visible difference between the mail and female is in size, with the female being larger. Click here for a site where you can hear the owl's eight note call.

Today we worked to remove downed limbs and debris from the recent ice storm. It has been an ongoing process for weeks, just taking care of the woods along our road. Nature will have to heal the rest of it. Standing dead trees make great homes for barred owls so there should be plenty of nesting places available for our nesting pair.

3 comments:

  1. wow! This is a beauty of a picture! Assuming you took it? we have a much smaller owl on our porch. It appears to be a differetn variety. The color is more amber, it is much smaller and it has those peaked tufts above the ears. Some have suggested it is a common barn owl. I just know it leaves a mess on my porch! But he's welcome to stay as long as he keeps his distance from me.

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  2. that was me leaving that last comment, I forgot I was logged in with my essa name... the trouble with multiple personalities!

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  3. It is probably a screech owl. the tip-off would be the tufts and smaller size. It comes in both a grey phase, red or brown.

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