Who, Who, Who? Who Cooks for You? The Beautiful Barred Owl, Of Course!

Barred Owl (Strix varia), Surveys the Garden from a Fence Post

If you’ve spent time in the woods at dusk or dawn —or gone camping anywhere along the east coast— chances are you have heard a Barred Owl, even if you’ve never seen one. This beautiful raptor’s call, “Who cooks for you, who, who, who“, often followed by a maniacal cackle, is one of the first birdcalls that I could identify as a kid. To this day, I delight in barred owl eavesdropping at night. Their conversations (click here and listen to ‘duet’), fascinate me.

Barred owls are quite common in my deeply forested landscape. I often spot them at daybreak or in the lingering twilight —frequently along the edge of the woods. My garden fencepost (as you can see above), is a favorite hunting perch for rodents. How convenient for both of us! The Barred Owl prefers mature, mixed forests, where it nests in hollow tree cavities. Learn more about this important predator here, at All About Birds.

Now all I want to know is, what’s for dinner!

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