Just saw a pair of Barred Owls!! (1 Viewer)

I was riding my bike on a nature trail today when a bird landed in a tree beside me. Thinking it was a hawk, I stopped my bike and got closer to take a picture. I quickly noticed that it was an owl! Using my bird ID app (which is very accurate, I must add) I was able to match it with a barred owl! The noises it made also seemed to match up almost completely with the ones provided on the app. I was about to try and get closer to snap a picture when a second owl flew over! It landed by the first and they started jumping around and 'talking' to each other. Sadly, I only had my phone with me, so I had to get really close to them if I wanted a picture and they noticed me and flew off. It probably would have been too dark for a proper picture anyway, but I still wish I was able to get one. Even though I didn't get a picture, this was still a cool experience! Besides the ones at zoos, I've never been this close to an owl before. My ID app also says that Barred Owls are rare as well!

I would not consider the barred owl to be a rare species but they might be uncommon in Florida.

"Barred Owls are fairly numerous and their populations increased 1.5% per year between 1966 and 2014, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates their global breeding population at 3 million, with 91% spending some time in the U.S., 7% in Canada, and 3% in Mexico." https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/lifehistory

Barred owls are large and impressive birds with a distinctive call which makes them easy to identify. Returning home from work, I would often hear the owl I nicknamed "Big Mama Thornton" as I exited the car. She roosted in a large pine next to the garage. We lived in Herndon, Virginia and the rear boundary of our property was Little Difficult Run Stream Valley Park. Big Mama was not at all shy and she was welcome to the chipmunks that infested the garden I planted as backfill to the retaining wall I installed!

austexican said:

I would not consider the barred owl to be a rare species but they might be uncommon in Florida.

"Barred Owls are fairly numerous and their populations increased 1.5% per year between 1966 and 2014, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates their global breeding population at 3 million, with 91% spending some time in the U.S., 7% in Canada, and 3% in Mexico." https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/lifehistory

Barred owls are large and impressive birds with a distinctive call which makes them easy to identify. Returning home from work, I would often hear the owl I nicknamed "Big Mama Thornton" as I exited the car. She roosted in a large pine next to the garage. We lived in Herndon, Virginia and the rear boundary of our property was Little Difficult Run Stream Valley Park. Big Mama was not at all shy and she was welcome to the chipmunks that infested the garden I planted as backfill to the retaining wall I installed!

Click to expand...

That's probably true...lots of birds aren't rare in other places, but are in Florida o

And that's really cool that you get to see one so close ))