Barred Owl - Strix varia

The Barred Owl's range is expanding west, now all the way to the north-west coast of North America, where it is slowly displacing its slightly smaller cousin, the Spotted Owl. Here you will find photos, recordings and a brief field notes section to help identify and enjoy this beautiful owl. A more in depth write up and range map can be found in its natural history page (the Biology link). To jump immediately to any of these sections use the Page Jump Links below.

The Barred Owl is similar in appearance only to the Spotted Owl and is unlikely to be confused with any other owl. There are some distinct differences that make these two owls distinguishable though. The most visual distinction is that the Barred Owl has brown vertical streaks on its underside where the Spotted Owl has short brown horizontal bars (and spots on its crown). The Barred Owl also has a distinctive sharp break between its vertical chest and flank streaks and lateral throat barring. It is also a lighter brown color overall and slightly larger (if they happen to be sitting next to each other this is quite noticeable!). Both owls do have bold calls in the forests but they are different. The primary territorial location or advertisement call for the Barred Owl is often described as "Who cooks for you; Who cooks for you all?" or "You cook today; I cook tomorrow" (most noticeable is tone and pattern since the two owls have many variations). The eyes of both (Spotted and Barred) owls are dark brown to black, the bills are horn to yellowish in color and they lack ear tufts. The sexes are alike in appearance although males and females can be distinguished by call. The length of the Barred Owl is 21" (slightly shorter in length than a Red-tailed Hawk).