Species-Specific Management (SSM)

Barred Owl

The barred owl, Strix varia, is one of the Strigidae, the common owls that has a broad range. They are extremely proficient hunters.

Although you may rarely see a barred owl on your property, you have probably heard their common call "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?" Their value goes beyond aesthetics and includes:

• They reduce rodent populations. The barred owl's main diet is made up of small mammals. These pests may rob you of your crop, spread diseases, create burrows that lead to holes in your fields, and are generally unwanted.
• They reduce avian pest populations. A substantial portion of the owl's diet is made up of birds. They will reduce populations of such pests as starlings, grackles, and cowbirds.
• The eerie call of an owl in the pitch dark reminds us of the disappearing American wilderness.
• It will produce self-pride knowing that you have done something to aid one of nature's perfect predators.
• Knowledge of a species about which few people know.

The barred owl is very adaptive, but measures can be taken either to bring barred owls onto your property, keep existing owls around, or increase the number of owls. All of the following steps need not and perhaps should not be taken. Due to unique geographic conditions and wildlife's unpredictability, there is a slim chance that even after performing these actions barred owls may not take up residence on your land. However, these steps will greatly enhance your chance of "owning" a barred owl or two.

1. Prevent clear cutting trees from your woodlands. Do group-selection silviculture. Barred owls like large mature forests. If you must cut, keep clearcuts or shelterwood units small (less than 8 acres), and spread cuts far from each other. The more continuous the forest, the better. These owls live in large tracts of deciduous forests, ranging from mesic to wet areas such as wooded swamps, poorly drained woodlots, and protected hillsides to drier, upland area. Recent research indicates that the preference for wetter sites, the riparian areas, is because these areas are less likely to have been disturbed, particularly by timber activities that remove the mature, deteriorating trees used for nesting sites, rather than a need for water
2. Leave old snags standing. The owl may nest in these rotting trees if they are not already in use.
3. If there is a lack of snags on your property, there are several things that you can do to create them as possible nest sites:
   • Remove 6 inches of bark (frilling) all the way around an old, poorly formed tree. This will kill the tree and it will soon decay and create nest sites.
   • Drill large holes into live trees. The barred owl stands 20 inches and requires a good sized hole. These cavities should be created no less than 15 feet from the ground.When creating cavities, remember that the barred owl is extremely territorial, so a nest or nest box for one pair of owls per 20-30 acres of prime habitat are sufficient.
   • Construct nest boxes.
4. Do not cut trees between late February and late March so as to avoid disturbing nesting pairs of owls.
5. Leave thick pines stands. They provide critical protection from the elements during the harsh winter months.
6. Prevent forest fires. Low intensity prescribed burns that are well managed and carefully supervised may not be harmful. Such fires will do two things. They will clear away the underbrush, allowing more visible hunting space for the owls. Second, they will enhance the growth of the stand and increase the rate at which owl habitat improves.
7. Use minimal pesticides, especially along the edges of your fields. The harmful effects of pesticide use on the health of raptors is fairly well known.
8. Create field-woodline edges that have many folds and turns. Straight edges provide far less suitable hunting grounds than irregular edges.
9. Within a week of the same day (early to mid-March) each year, perform a walk or drive through your forest or woodlot of interest in the early evening. Play a taped call of the owl (available from sporting goods dealers). Some people broadcast a tape recording of an owl call to standardize the survey. Count the number of calls you hear and record it. Save the count for future years so that you may see the effects of your actions.
10. Look under your nest boxes and constructed cavities for regurgitated pellets or feces. This will tell you if your creations are being utilized and give you a rough estimation of the owl population size.
11. Participate in and encourage studies of the owls.
12. Prepare yourself and your future forest resources for the conditions then and the likely abundance of owls that you will have then.
13. Encourage others to see and understand the owls.

This species does not migrate. Note from email-2005:

A review of the threatened-species status of the spotted owl last year identified the invasion by the barred owl as one of three leading factors in the spotted owl's continued decline, along with timber harvest and wildfires.

More aggressive and adaptable than its cousin, the barred owl apparently hitchhiked West across the Great Plains on forests that popped up because people were controlling wildfires and planting trees around farms, scientists have said. The barred owl arrived in Washington in 1973.

From British Columbia through Washington, Oregon and California, barred owls have been pushing spotted owls out of low-elevation old-growth forests along stream bottoms, scientists have reported.

A contribution of Jeff Brown (1992), Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061

Submitted by Robert H. Giles, Jr.

This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision July 17, 2002.