Barred Owls Are October Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar

Summary: Barred owls are October birds on the 2022 Audubon calendar whereby the National Audubon Society alerts Unitedstatesians to North American vulnerable birds.

John James Audubon (April 26, 1785-Jan. 27, 1851) artistically addresses predator-prey activities on plate 46 in his Birds of America, available between 1827 and 1838. He assembles one predatory barred owl with one gray squirrel prey. Amphibians, birds, crabs, crayfishes, insects, reptiles, small mammals and spiders are among what barred owls appreciate as prey; John James Audubon, The Birds of America From Original Drawings (1827-1830), No. 10 Plate XLVI: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Barred owls are October birds on the 2022 Audubon calendar whereby the National Audubon Society alerts, by associating each month with a different avian, Unitedstatesians to 12 vulnerable birds in North America.

Wintertime, springtime, summertime bird and squirrel backyard feeders bring Strigiformes (from Greek στρίξ [“screecher”] via Latin strix and Latin -fōrmēs [“-shaped”]) nocturnal, solitary raptor order members. That order contains Strigidae true, typical owl and Tytonidae (from Greek τυτώ via Latin tutubō [“to cry”] and Greek -ειδής [“-like”] via Latin -idæ) barn-owl families. Barred owls dwell as Strigidae family members in deep woodlands and mixed hardwoods midcontinent through eastern and southern coastlines, northwesternmost conifer rainforests and southern cypress swamps.

Physically and sexually mature females, minimally two years old, engender, each year in 18-year-lifespans, one one- to five-egg clutch during breeding-season months from January through September.

Barred owls fit a second brood into one-brood seasons if first-brood eggs fail to hatch or if first-clutch hatchlings fail as nestlings, fledglings or four-plus month-olds.

Mature females gestate in 15- to 30-foot- (4.57- to 9.14-meter-) high abandoned hawk, squirrel or stick nests or natural unlined cavities in conifer-forest stubs and trunks. They have no spousal help hatching elliptical to near-spherical to semi-elliptical, semi-glossy, smooth, white 49- by 42-millimeter (1.93- by 1.65-inch) eggs within 28 to 33 days. Altricial (helpless, from Latin altrix, “[female] nourisher”) hatchlings impart light-colored, thick softness with first coats of white down and with second coats of buffy, white down.

Barred owls journey through the 2022 Audubon calendar as October birds, during which month barred owl fathers, previously uninvolved, join their mates feeding and tending nestlings.

Barred owl hatchlings keep eyes closed their first seven days and know their first three weeks as nestlings kept in birth nests under 24/7 co-parental care.

Nestlings as four- to five-week-olds sometimes leave for branches located close to birth nests even as they lack gliding, wing-flapping flying skills until their sixth week. Barred owls maintain solitary lifestyles outside mating seasons even as their fledglings meet them for father- and mother-managed meals through four to five months after birth. Insects, spiders and small amphibians, birds, crabs, crayfishes, mammals and reptiles nourish female and male, juvenile and mature barred owls (Strix varia [“screech diverse” literally] scientifically).

The 2022 Audubon calendar offers as October birds nocturnal barred owls, nevertheless obvious day and night in observing choral and solo calls and organizing hunting operations.

Physically and sexually mature barred owls possess 17- to 19.5-inch (43- to 50-centimeter) body lengths, 3.5-foot (1.1-meter) wingspans and 17- to 37-ounce (475- to 1,050-ounce) weights.

Brown and white qualify as barred owl colors, with brown eyes and upperparts, brown- and white-barred breasts and tails and brown- and white-streaked bellies and heads. Barred owls release through their yellow beaks choral and solo barks, cackles, caws, guttural sounds, screams and signature hoo hoo hoo-hoo, hoo hoo, hoo hoo-aw hoots. The latter call, rhythmically submitted from daytime, night-time perches, sounds like “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” to master gardeners and master naturalists.

The 2022 Audubon calendar treats as October birds barred owls, treasured in three countries ever since Benjamin Smith Barton (Feb. 10, 1766-Dec. 19, 1815) taxonomized them.

Big eyes, mobile necks, powerful beaks, bodies, limbs and wings advantage barred owls. Barred owls are able to flap and glide silently after prey and away from predators; Monday, May 26, 2014, 23:39, image of barred owl skeleton, Museum of Osteology, 10301 S Sunnylane Road, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, central Oklahoma: Polyoutis, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

John James Audubon (April 26, 1785-Jan. 27, 1851) artistically addresses predator-prey activities on plate 46 in his Birds of America, available between 1827 and 1838. He assembles one predatory barred owl with one gray squirrel prey. Amphibians, birds, crabs, crayfishes, insects, reptiles, small mammals and spiders are among what barred owls appreciate as prey; John James Audubon, The Birds of America From Original Drawings (1827-1830), No. 10 Plate XLVI: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:46_Barred_Owl.jpg; No copyright, via Cincinnati Public Library @ https://digital.cincinnatilibrary.org/digital/collection/p16998coll33/ (main page); No copyright, via Cincinnati Public Library @ https://digital.cincinnatilibrary.org/digital/collection/p16998coll33/id/47/rec/48 (specific image URL)

Big eyes, mobile necks, powerful beaks, bodies, limbs and wings advantage barred owls. Barred owls are able to flap and glide silently after prey and away from predators; Monday, May 26, 2014, 23:39, image of barred owl skeleton, Museum of Osteology, 10301 S Sunnylane Road, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, central Oklahoma: Polyoutis, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barred_Owl_Skeleton.jpg

For further information:

Baicich, Paul J.; and Colin J. O. Harrison. 2005. "Barred Owl (Strix varia)." Page 189. In: Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Second edition. Princeton NJ; and Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England: Princeton University Press.

Barton, Benjamin Smith. 1799. "Strix varius of Bartram." Page 11. In: Benjamin Smith Barton, M. D., Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania. Part First. Philadelphia PA: Way & Groff.
Available via Center for Biological Diversity @ https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/global_owl_project/descriptions/Strix/Strix%20varia%20(Barton)%201799,%20Fragment%20of%20the%20Natural%20History%20of%20Pennsylvania,%20page%2011..PDF

Bull, John; and John Farrand, Jr. 1997. "Barred Owl Strix varia." Pages 551-552. In: National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region. Revised by John Farrand, Jr. Second edition. A Chanticleer Press Edition. New York NY: Borzoi Book, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.; and Toronto [Ontario, Canada]: Random House of Canada Limited.

Bull, John; John Farrand, Jr.; and Miklos D. F. Udvardy. 1985. "Barred Owl Strix varia." Page 392. In: William A. Niering. Wetlands. The Audubon Society Nature Guides. Chanticleer Press Edition. New York NY: Borzoi Book, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Howell, Catherine Herbert (Writer); and Mary B. Dickinson (Editor). 1999. "Barred Owl Strix varia L." Pages 250-251. In: Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Third Edition. Washington DC: National Geographic Society.

Kiser, Joy M. 2012. "Fig. 3. "Strix Nebulosa - Barred Owl Strix varia - Barred Owl Illustrated by Howard Jones." Pages 142-143. In: America's Other Audubon. New York NY: Princeton Architectural Press.

Kobasa, Paul A. (Editor-in-Chief). 2007. "Barred owl (Strix varia)." Page 27. Birds of the United States and Canada. Third printing, November 2009. Chicago IL: World Book, Inc.

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 September 2022. "Brown Pelicans Are September Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/brown-pelicans-are-september-birds-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 August 2022. "Allen’s Hummingbirds Are August Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/08/allens-hummingbirds-are-august-birds-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 July 2022. "Reddish Egrets Are July Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/07/reddish-egrets-are-july-birds-on-2022.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 June 2022. "American Oystercatchers Are June Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/06/american-oystercatchers-are-june-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 May 2022. "Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks Are May Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/05/rose-breasted-grosbeaks-are-may-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 April 2022. "Crested Caracaras Appear as April Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Sunday.<
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/04/crested-caracaras-appear-as-april-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 March 2022. "Cerulean Warblers Are March Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/cerulean-warblers-are-march-birds-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 February 2022. "Northern Bobwhites Are February Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday. Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/northern-bobwhites-are-february-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 January 2022. "Florida Scrub-Jays Are January Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/florida-scrub-jays-are-january-birds-on.html

Peterson, Roger Tory. 2010. "Barred Owl Strix varia." Pages 196-197. In: Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America. With contributions from Michael Di Giorgio, Paul Lehman, Michael O'Brien and Jeffrey A. Gordon, Larry Rosche, [and] Bill Thompson. Sixth Edition. Boston MA; and New York NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Peterson, Roger Tory. 1947. "Barred Owl. Strix varia." Page 98. In: A Field Guide to the Birds Giving Field Marks of all Species Found East of the Rockies. The Peterson Field Guide Series. Second Revised and Enlarged Edition. Boston MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Robbins, Charles S.; Bertel Bruun; and Herbert S. Zim. 2001. "Barred Owl Strix varia." Pages 176-177. In: Birds of North America. Revised by Jonathan P. Latimer and Karen Stray Nolting and James Coe. New York NY: St. Martin's Press.

Robbins, Chandler S., Bertel Bruun, with Herbert S. Zim. 1983. "Barred Owl." Page 176. In: Birds of North America. A Guide to Field Identification. New York NY: Golden Press; and Racine WI: Western Publishing Company.

Stokes, Donald and Lillian. 1996. "Barred Owl Strix varia." Page 240. In: Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region. Boston [MA]; New York [NY]; Toronto [Ontario, Canada]; and London [England UK]: Little, Brown and Company.

Unwin, Mike; and David Tipling. "Barred Owl Strix Varia." Pages 69-71. In: The Enigma of the Owl: An Illustrated Natural History. New Haven [CT] and London [England UK]: Yale University Press.