Barred Owls are busy in the fall. They start or renew pair bonds and reclaim nesting sites. Young adults build new nesting sites. All this activity is hard to miss because there is a lot of communication between pairs and between young interlopers. It is the hooting season. This is all in preparation for an […]
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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 […]
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This is a Barred Owl that visited our yard yesterday. Based on ‘smaller’ size, a male, I think. In most species, males are larger than females . This is called ‘male-biased size dimorphism’. Owls & other raptors tend to be exceptions. Males tend to be the smaller of the pair.There are multiple theories of why […]
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These are the barred owls that make Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve home. In these shots they are taking well deserved naps. Their nest box has 3 active owlets & like all youngsters the owlets are either sleeping or wanting to eat. These two are Poster Birds for active parenting. After mating and up to laying […]
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To paraphrase Zac Brown, the It is “whatever It is that blows a viewer away”. Owls are just photogenic. For Barred Owls it really helps that they are more diurnal than their cousins so it’s possible to get shots in decent light. It also helps me that there is a pair that nests two houses […]
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In many of my posts I make a big deal out of being an active birder\photographer. Some would say too big a deal. There are times though that I try to wait for the shot. This is the case in this series of one of our neighborhood Barred Owl pair. She and her mate (I […]
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When Barred Owls fledge they are not very good flyers. Their primary flight feathers have not grown in. This doesn’t stop them from getting out and exploring their new world. And as adolescents tend to do, they can take it a little too far. When they do they can end up on the ground after […]
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The “LoveOwls” were back in our yard. I’m thinking Parent’s Evening Out date.
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Anthropomorphism, attributing human characteristics of thought, feeling and consciousness to non-humans, was long considered a scientific sin by animal behavior researchers. It still is by some. When considering cartoons or talking dog movies I can’t say I disagree, at least in degree. I don’t think there is any real harm and as a literary device, […]
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