Barred Owl | Nature Study Ideas for Homeschooling

As a homeschooling mom, I love nurturing my kids love of nature. When we first heard the call of the Barred Owl outside, we didn’t know what it was! Today I’m sharing our experience learning about this fascinating creature. I hope you enjoy this Barred Owl Nature Study.

Barred Owl Nature Study | Homeschool @ aStorybookDay.com

This morning my daughter Hannah came running in from outside where she was doing her nature study and says, “Mom! I just heard a bird that sounded like a monkey!”

She didn’t see the bird, though, so we did a google search for “bird that sounds like monkey” and found out the Barred Owl, which lives all over North America sounds very much like a monkey! We have seen this owl a few times in the past, but never heard its call. This was a very exciting discovery for us!

A Barred Owl call sounds like “Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?”

I searched even further for more fun ideas to help us enjoy learning about these beautiful birds and wanted to share them with you.

First, I found this amazing video of a Barred Owl’s hoot.

I had the girls draw a picture of a Barred Owl. We looked at this photograph.

Barred Owl Nature Study | A Virtuous Woman
Barred Owl Drawing by Laura
barred owl_hannah
Barred Owl Drawing by Hannah

Here are some other resources you might enjoy:

The Barred Owl eats small mammals, including mice (a diet staple), shrews, voles, squirrels, chipmunks, hares, and rabbits. The Barred Owl might also consume other birds, reptiles, amphibians, crayfish, or insects.

Photo Credit: Dennis Buchner

The Barred Owl’s territory is a range of about one square mile. Courtship and mating begins in February with breeding occurring between March and August. They like to nest in unlined tree hollows anywhere from 20 to 80 feet above the ground. They may also use the unoccupied nest of a hawk, crow, or squirrel. The female will lay 2 to 3 eggs and is the primary caretaker of the eggs. The eggs incubate for 28 to 33 days. Four or five weeks after hatching, the young owls climb out of the nest and perch on nearby branches. It can be up to six more weeks before they are able to fly.

From OwlPages.com:

Pairs mate for life and territories and nest sites are maintained for many years.

You can read all about these beautiful birds at OwlPages.com. I hope you enjoy learning all about Barred Owls!

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