Leonard]. Souc•.
A successfulNorthern Barred Owl (Strix varia locatinga BarredOwl nestby the bird'sfrequent varia) nestingtook place this year in central New trips with nestingmaterial. ! thoughtthe hole left Jersey.Conveniently for me, the birds nestedin a by the broken-off limb was suitable for a nest but tree cavity on my property border, so observation actuallydid not have my suspicionconfirmed until was quite extensiveand easy. late March when ! saw the female sittingin the My home is located on the southwesternedge of cavity.My bestdetermination is that the eggswere laid the last week of March. the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County,N.J. The 6000-acrerefuge is skirted The calls of a courtingpair of Barred Owls are by the PassaicRiver on the west and south, and thrilling to hear. Allen W. Eckert,in his new book, surroundedby hills 50 to 200 feet high, creatinga The Owls of North America,says they are "little shallowbowl. The swampis actuallya seriesof in- shortof spectacular"and "soundsthat can bestbe dividual marshesand swampsinterspersed with describedas uncouth";! quite agree.Besides the low lying ridgesor hummocks. familiar hootingsome chuckling, cackling, squall- ing and caterwaulingwere commonvocabulary of Typical plantsof the marshareas are Cattail, But- this pair. tonbush,and sedgeswhile swamp areas contain shrubs and trees such as Highbush Blueberry, During April the head of the parent bird was visi- Azalea, Willow, Red Maple, and Elm. On the ble in the cavity as she incubated.Most of the ridgesand hummocksgrow Beech,Oak, Birch and emphatic vocalizinghad now stopped.The male Maple. This is ideal habitatfor the Barred Owl. bird, upon arriving in the area, would announce his presencebefore flying to the nest with food. The nest tree was a huge, dead White Oak on the Later in May, when both adult birds were out of bank of a smallbrook. During a stormthis past fall, the nest, they would sit in a nearby tree and call, a large limb broke off leaving a rather sheltered beforeflying to the nestto feed the young. cavity facing the water. The birds found and oc- The incubatingfemale would tolerate my ap- cupied this newly-createdsite the first year it ex- proaching on the oppositebank of the brook to isted.The tree is only 50 feet from a well travelled within 30 feet, without leaving the nest.Not want- road. A steel bridge spansthe brook and from this ing to jeopardizethe nesting,I setup a zoomscope bridge the nesthole, 24 feet aboveground, is plain- on my patio, a distanceof only 100yards, and did ly visible. mostof the observingfrom there. I first observedthe birds in early March when both The adult owls were diligent in their parental were extremelyvocal and active during the day. duties and, after broodinghad stoppedin mid- We hear Barred Owls throughoutthe year in the May, made numeroustrips to the nest both day swamp but this daytime vocalizing regular and night.At first theywould enter the cavityitself, appearancein the samearea startedme in search of a nest. but I believe as the owlets grew there was not enoughroom for bothchicks and parents.As soon Unlike observinga hawk, one is not aided in as the owletswere big enoughto be visiblein the
Page68 North AmericanBird Bander Vol. 1, No. 2 BarredOwl Nestlings(photo by the author)
nestopening, I never saw either adult bird in the ed teeth -- very high-pitchedand descendingat nestagain. Although they were observedcarrying the end. We had not heard this Barred Owl sound prey to the nest,it was difficultto identify the prey before.Even now at the time of this writing, the 4- species.At leasttwice I couldsee that the owl was month-oldowlets are still "whisfiingthrough their carryinga bird. teeth," not hooting. On June 6th, I climbed the tree and banded two I have read thatyoung Barred Owls do notfly un- healthy owlets,approximately 6 weeksold. They til 12 to 15 weeksold. I believe thesebirds were fly- were both very much the samesize, not aggressive ing, at least shortdistances, at about10 weeks. and easilyhandled. The cavitymeasured 16 inches Many times short spanswould be jumped or in diameterand was about14 inchesdeep. In the hopped;I sawthem on bothsides of the brookso bottomof the nest were wood chipsand assorted theyhad to fly somedistance over the water before debris. There were feather remains of a Common theywere 3 monthsold. Grackle in the nest-- nothingelse -- no pellets. The youngbirds at 4 monthsare nowalmost iden- Becausethe cavity faced the brook, I believe the tical in coloration and size to the adults. This pelletsfell into the water, for I found none on the makesvisual separation difficult. groundat the baseof the tree. I hopethe birdsremain here throughthe winter. I After bandingand photographing, I sprinkled moth mustconfess we are emotionallyinvolved with this flakes(Naphthalene) liberally aroundthe tree and family.Mortality in thefirst year is very high in all along the path taken from the bridge to the tree. birds, but now that this pair has fledgedI feel This procedure has been found to deter mam- hopefulfor their future. malian predatorsfrom tracinghuman scent to the area.This was the only time I visitedthe nest. Unfortunately,Barred Owl populationsin New Jerseyare diminishing,habitat loss being one One week later, I first observed one owlet on a significantfactor. The Great Swamp refuge affords branchoutside the nest.This was at night.The next somehope that this fascinating and useful bird will day I saw both chicksin the nest.The following endure in our state. nightboth owlets were out;one perched high atop a limb overhangingthe brook.The beamfrom a 5- References cell flashlightdid not seemto bother them. Bent, Arthur Cleveland. 1961. Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey. Part Two. Duringthis periodof "branching,"my wife first Dover Publications,Inc., New York. heard the soundsof the owlets. One night she Eckert, Allen W. and Karl E. Karalus. 1974. The came in from outdoorsand told me she thought Owls of North America. (North of Mexico) therewas an injuredanimal in theyard and would Doubleday& Co.,Garden City, New York. I come have a look. We traced the sound to the nest tree and discoveredan owlet sittingon a branch 1390White BridgeRoad, Millington, N.J. 07946 near the nest cavity.It was makinga whisfied- hissingsound, rather like whisfiingthrough clench- Received 22 November, 1975 -- EBBA Apr.-Jun.1976 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Page69