Tag Archives: barred owl nc

Field Notes, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Barred Owls in eastern NC

By Sally Siko

One of my favorite species to find here in North Carolina is the Barred Owl.They are absolutely stunning birds with large expressive eyes and soft fluffy bodies.I’ve had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Barred Owls over the years and it never gets old. It’s neat to return to my favorite spots each spring to find the birds hunting in their familiar haunts.



Barred Owls prefer to nest & hunt for prey in wetland areas such as marshes, bogs, swamps and near beaver ponds. They may even be found near rivers and ponds looking for a meal.The wet, wooded habitat and canal networks of the Alligator River NWR in NC offer the perfect home for these beauties.It’s also interesting to note that in recent years, this species have started to nest in wooded lots in suburban areas away from their traditional habitats.In fact, a few of my sightings have been in highly populated neighborhoods here in the Raleigh area.



Unlike other species of owl, you are likely to hear or see a Barred Owl hooting during the day, yet they are nocturnal hunters. Their diet consists of mice, moles, squirrels and other small mammals but they will also catch salamanders, frogs, lizards and even crawfish or crabs when the opportunity presents itself.These handsome birds are a year round resident of North Carolina and although they are more numerous in the central and eastern regions, may be found in nearly every county here in the Tarheel state.
Photos & video by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Field Notes

Barred Owl Painting in North Carolina

By Sally Siko

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina

Spending time with Barred Owls in North Carolina

One of my favorite species to find here in North Carolina is the Barred Owl.
They are absolutely stunning birds with large expressive eyes and soft fluffy bodies.
I’ve had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Barred Owls over the years and it never gets old. It’s neat to return to my favorite spots each spring to find the birds hunting in their familiar haunts.

Barred Owls prefer to nest & hunt for prey in wetland areas such as marshes, bogs, swamps and near beaver ponds. They may even be found near rivers and ponds looking for a meal.
The wet, wooded habitat near the large pond at the Pee Dee NWR in NC and at Huntington Beach State Park in SC offer the perfect home for these beauties.
It’s also interesting to note that in recent years, this species have started to nest in wooded lots in suburban areas away from their traditional habitats.
In fact, a few of my sightings have been in highly populated neighborhoods here in the Raleigh area.

Unlike other species of owl, you are likely to hear or see a Barred Owl hooting during the day, yet they are nocturnal hunters.
Their diet consists of mice, moles, squirrels and other small mammals but they will also catch salamanders, frogs, lizards and even crawfish or crabs when the opportunity presents itself.
These handsome birds are a year round resident of North Carolina and although they are more numerous in the central and eastern regions, may be found in nearly every county here in the Tarheel state.
Aren’t they lovely?

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved full frame 50MP beast, the mighty @canonusa#5Ds

Birding Trips and Tours North Carolina, Birdwatching News, Field Notes

A Barred Owl encounter at the Pee Dee NWR, Wadesboro NC

While on a birding trip to the Pee Dee NWR a couple of weeks ago, my guests and I were delighted to encounter a handsome Barred Owl in the woods.


It took a bit of searching to find this owl hidden among the boughs of the trees.
The group and I stood there looking up scanning the mid canopy but with no luck.
Still, we kept looking…
After a few more minutes of squinting through the leaves, I finally spotted that familiar outline sitting in an oak tree.
Got ‘em!
So cool.
Better yet, the moment when I saw my guests faces light up when I showed them the owl was freak’n awesome!
So glad we could share that moment and take some photos together.
*Btw, my best advice for finding a camouflaged Barred Owl in a tree is to look for a large football-shaped cat (with feathers and big shiny eyes of course haha!) on a branch.



Barred Owls prefer to nest & hunt for prey in wetland areas such as marshes, bogs, swamps and near beaver ponds. They may even be found near rivers and ponds looking for a meal.
The wet, wooded habitat near the large pond at the Pee Dee NWR offers the perfect home for these beauties. A walk or drive around the canal in the woods at the north end of the pond is a great way to find them.
It’s also interesting to note that in recent years, this species have started to nest in wooded lots in suburban areas away from their traditional habitats.
In fact, most of my sightings have been in highly populated neighborhoods here in the Raleigh area.

Unlike other species of owl, you are likely to hear or see a Barred Owl hooting during the day, yet they are nocturnal hunters.
Their diet consists of mice, moles, squirrels and other small mammals but they will also catch salamanders, frogs, lizards and even crawfish or crabs when the opportunity presents itself.
These handsome birds are a year round resident of North Carolina and although they are more numerous in the central and eastern regions, may be found in nearly every county here in the Tarheel state.
Aren’t they lovely?

By the way, I’ve still got several birding trips planned throughout the year at the Pee Dee National wildlife Refuge. Wanna join me? Check out the link below for trip details and booking information.

Birding Tours at the Pee Dee NWR



Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5D

Field Notes, Out There with the Expert, The Adventures of your bird watching Admin

Barred Owl at the Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Park

By: Sally Siko, Admin-Birdwatching NC

Sleeping Barred Owl

A couple of days ago, I took an early morning birding trip to the Carrol Howard Johnson Environmental Park in Fuquay Varina, NC.
I had heard that there were Barred Owls to be found here. Happily, I was not disappointed!
Look at this sweet snoozing one I found sleeping high in the branches of a Long-leaf Pine tree.


One common misconception is that Barred Owls are strictly nocturnal animals (animals that are active at night and inactive during the day). They are most often heard after dark, but Barred Owls might actually be better described as crepuscular.
Crepuscular is a term used to describe animals that are primarily active during the twilight — at dawn and at dusk.
In fact, these birds are known to do the majority of their hunting at dawn and dusk. In addition, they can be quite active during the day (diurnal) when raising owlets or on overcast days such the morning I photographed this one.
Check out the next photo to see his mate who was wide awake 😉

Barred Owl

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc
Canon 5Ds

Photos captured with my mighty Canon 5DS. If you are interested in getting shots like these with this 50 MP beast of a camera, please check out the link below to Canon USA.

Birdwatching NC is sponsored by Canon USA and I am proud to be a Canon shooter. After 13 years of trusting my professional photography business to Canon’s line of products, I cannot recommend this company strongly enough. If you have have any questions about my gear, shoot me a message!

Birdwatching NC is also sponsored by Zenfolio. Zenfolio is a photography website gallery and hosting company. I’ve been using Zenfolio to show and sell my images for over a decade and actually recommend this company to other photographers over WordPress!

You can check out Zenfolio for free by clicking the link below.

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Lastly, in addition to running things around here at Birdwatching NC, plus operating a North Carolina outdoor wedding photography company, I also provide website SEO and building services for photographers who need a solution to showing and selling their work online through my company Websites for Photographers. In a nutshell, I design kickass websites on the Zenfolio platform built from the ground up with a sound foundation of SEO principles in place so that my clients get found by more customers on the web.

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Instagram Birding

A Barred Owl in central N.C.

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Check out this beautiful Barred Owl that photographer Heather Schaefgen-Russell @ncbirdnerd found! These awesome birds are found throughout central and eastern North Carolina all year round. They prefer to nest and forage primarily in wetlands, such as around ponds and in swamps and marshes. A familiar sound in swamps throughout the southern United States, Barred Owls have a distinctive hooting call of 8–9 notes perhaps best described as “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” Speaking of food, these handsome Owls are not picky eaters. They’re known to dine on frogs, crayfish, small to medium sized mammals (mice, squirrels, voles, Opossum) and even other birds! For more great birds, go give @ncbirdnerd a follow and be sure to check out her adventures on her website at www.ncbirdnerd.com Happy birding! Photo by @ncbirdnerd . . . . #birdnerd #birdsofinsta #birdsofinstagram #ncwildlife #birding #birdwatching #birdwatchers #bird #birds #ncbirding #ncbirds #ncbirdwatching #canon #ncoutdoors #ncnature #canon-wildlife #ncwildlifephotographer #northcarolinabirding #birdwatchingnc #northcarolinabirds #audubonsociety #birdoftheday #ncbirdnerd #SuperbOwl #barredowl #owl#owls #owlsofinstagram PS. Seriously go follow Heather. Her Prothonotary Warbler photos are freak’n amazing 😉

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