Birds of North America Home Page

Field Guide for all the Birds of North America


Barred Owl

Chouette rayée

Strix varia

Information, images and range maps on over 1,000 birds of North America, including sub-species, vagrants, introduced birds and possibilities

Birds of North America
  • Birds of North America
  • Birds of North America
  • Birds of North America
  • Birds of North America
  • Birds of North America
  • Birds of North America

Life, Habitat & Pictures of North American Owls

B L W W W Family Latin Name
21" 53.34cm 42" 106.68cm 1.6 lb 0.726kg Strigidae Strix varia

North American Bird Calls

  1. Tap to hear Choice 1
  2. Tap to hear Choice 2
  3. Tap to hear Choice 3


  • Summer
  • Year Around
  • Winter
range map

Distribution: The Barred Owl is one of the larger owls seen in North America. It has a very recognizable call that might be heard at night from across a lake. It might be situated in a forest or sitting out at night close to a wooded area. The call sounds like "Who, who cooks for you?" and is repeated over and over. It is seen from Nova Scotia, through Quebec and Ontario, around the Great Lakes, streaming across the prairie provinces, all of British Columbia and the northwest corner states. It covers the eastern half of the US states to the tip of Florida, westward into the eastern half of Texas.


References to Other Bird Sites:

Avibase - the world bird database This site provides the user with a complete list of bird species, broken down per country, or in the example of the US or Canada, per state and province. Here, bird species names are available in other languages, a great asset to be used as a translation of foreign bird names.

ABA - American Birding Association This site represents an organization that maintains official records of all birds species that have been proven to have been seen inside the perimeters of the North American Continent and the surrounding bodies of water. Regular revised versions are posted to keep the bird list current at all times. This is the list used by all serious birders over their lifetime. You may be aware of the movie called the "Big Year". It was with this list that all the competing birders used in an attempt to set a new record as to how many bird species that could be seen by an individual birder in one calendar year.

I hope you will take advantage of these suggested websites. I have used each of them, in one way or another, throughout the years in my quest to better identify and understand our fine feathered friends.


Classic Collection of North American Birds

CCNAB