BARRED OWL, Hoot Owl -If “a good child should be seen and not heard” what can be said for this owl?Its deep-toned whoo-whoo-who-whoo-to-whoo-ah, like the wail of some lost soul asking the way, is the only indication you are likely to have that a hoot owl lives in your neighbourhood.
You can imitate its voice and deliberately “hoot it up.” Few people who know its voice will ever see its smooth, round, bland, almost human face.
“As useless as a last year’s nest” can have no meaning to a pair of these large hardy owls that go about toward the end of winter looking for a deserted woodpecker’s nest or a hawk’s, crow’s, or squirrel’s bulky cradle in some tree top. Ever after they hold it as their own.
Farmers shoot the owl that occasionally takes one of their broilers or a game bird, not knowing that the remainder of its diet really leaves them in its debt.
Text: Birds Every Child Should Know by Neltje Blanchan
Author of “Bird Neighbours,” “Birds that Hunt and Are Hunted,”
“Nature’s Garden,” and “How to Attract the Birds.”
NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
1907 by Doubleday, Page & Company
Image Details
Title Barred owl
Alternative Title Strix varia
Contact mailto:nctcimages@fws.gov
Creator Mark Musselman/National Audubon Society
Description Hoot Owl
Subject Birds
Birdwatching
Photography
Location South Carolina
Publisher U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;
Type Still Image
Format JPG
Source NCTC Image Library
Rights Public Domain;
Date created 2012-03-09
https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/FullRes/natdiglib/barowl022306b.jpg
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