There are barred owl behaviors that suggest they have a ‘loving’ relationship with their partners. This statement of anthropomorphism makes scientists squeamish and adamantly remind us we can’t decipher what the owls are really thinking or ‘feeling’. But to be fair, they struggle to scientifically establish their own feelings: “Love may be defined as an emergent property of an ancient cocktail of neuropeptides and neurotransmitters. It appears that lust, attachment and attraction appear to be distinct but intertwined processes in the brain each mediated by its own neurotransmitters and circuits.” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4911849/)
Not exactly a poetic, or understandable for that matter, description of how we feel when we see our sweetheart.
Anthropomorphic or not, there are ‘facts’ about Barred Owl relationships though that many of us admire in a ‘loving’ relationship.
Barred Owls are presumed monogamous. Presumed because of observation, but there has not been any DNA studies of the young. Another presumption is pair bonding is permanent. This also comes from observations of individuals known to maintain territories for long periods.
Mutual preening is an important part of Barred Owls’ pair bonding & pair bond maintenance. And a most anthropomorphic behavior.
I for one think that in today’s world, when people can be quick to hate, there is room for poetic anthropomorphism and admiration for mutual caring. Even if it is just preening for parasites (that should satisfy the scientist readers 🙂 )