Strix varia
"Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?" That's the Barred Owl: eight or nine loud, barking hoots in two phrases, the last one sliding down and away. Pairs also break into wild, cackling duets that sound like monkeys loose in the trees, and a lone rising-then-falling "hoo-aww" is common at dusk. Listen in big, wet woods along rivers and swamps.
“Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?”
Every sound the Barred Owl makes
5 sounds to learn, each with a recording.
Who-cooks-for-you
Low pitch · Phrase
Eight or nine deep, barking hoots in two phrases. Each phrase builds to a stressed note, and the second ends in a long hoot that slides down and away. It is louder and more rhythmic than most people expect from an owl, and it travels far through the trees. Both sexes give it: hers is higher and sometimes ends in a slight quaver, so a pair singing together comes through as two voices, one pitched above the other.
“Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?”
Year round, mostly from dusk to dawn but sometimes by day. Heaviest in late winter before nesting, with a second rise in late summer and fall.
Caterwauling Duet
Mid pitch · Varied
A pair launches into an excited, overlapping jumble of cackles, hoots, gurgles and caw-like notes that can run for a minute or two. Most people's first guess is monkeys, or a fight breaking out in the treetops. The short hoots mixed into the racket give the owls away.
Mostly during courtship in late winter and spring, usually after dark.
Hoo-aww Contact Call
Low pitch · Single note
One long hoot that rises, then falls away: hoooo-aww. Think of the last note of who-cooks-for-you given on its own, like a drawn-out moan or bark. It is often the first sound of the evening as a pair starts its night.
“hoooo-aww”
Year round, especially around dusk and through the night.
Ascending Hoot Series
Low pitch · Series
Six to nine evenly spaced hoots that climb in pitch over about eight seconds, finishing with the same falling hoo-aww. Without the bouncy two-phrase rhythm of who-cooks-for-you, it sounds more like the owl walking up a staircase.
Year round, mostly at night; a territorial call like the main song.
Juvenile Begging Call
High pitch · Repeated
A drawn-out, squeaky hiss, zeeeee, repeated every 10 to 30 seconds by hungry young owls waiting to be fed. Nothing like a hoot: think air leaking from a tire, with a squeak in it.
Spring through late summer. Young start begging soon after hatching and keep at it for months after they leave the nest, so summer evenings are the time to hear it.
What to listen for
- Two phrases of hoots, eight or nine in all, with the very last one sliding down.
- From far off, the call can sound like a big dog barking somewhere in the woods.
- Cackling and hooting at night from a swamp or riverside forest is very often a pair of Barred Owls.
- A thin, hissing zeeeee from the treetops on a summer evening, coming again every 10 to 30 seconds, is usually a young owl begging.
- They call most in late winter and again in fall, and will sometimes answer on a gray afternoon.
Birds that sound like the Barred Owl
By ear: Great Horned Owls give a short, deep, soft run of hoots with a stuttering rhythm, hoo-h'HOO-hoo-hoo. Barred Owls are louder and barkier, use more notes, and end on a long falling hoot.
Spotted Owl
By ear: In the Pacific Northwest and California, Spotted Owls give four hoots, hoo, hoo-hoo, hooo, with the middle two close together. It is shorter than who-cooks-for-you and lacks the drawn-out drop at the end.
By ear: A Mourning Dove's soft coo-OO-oo, oo, oo often gets blamed on an owl, especially early in the morning. It stays quiet, with none of the Barred Owl's barking volume or two-phrase rhythm.
When and where you'll hear it
When
Most vocal from January to March and from September to October, at any hour, day or night.
- Dawn
- Daytime
- Dusk
- Night
Where
Year round across the eastern US, from Maine and the Great Lakes to Florida and eastern Texas, reaching west along wooded rivers into the Great Plains. During the 20th century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and south into California.
- Pacific Northwest
- A 20th-century newcomer that is now widespread here, where it competes with the threatened Northern Spotted Owl. Learn both calls before you count either.
- Woods
- Wetlands
- Yards
Practice the Barred Owl in the app
Practice the Barred Owl’s who-cooks-for-you until you can name it without looking. Wings & Whistles plays it in 2 interactive listening lessons, mixed with the birds you’ll hear around it.
How to recognize the Barred Owl by sight
Large, round-headed owl with mottled brown-and-white plumage. It lacks ear tufts and has soulful dark brown eyes set in a pale facial disc. Named for the horizontal brown bars on its chest and vertical brown streaks on its belly. Often perches quietly by day and flies silently through dense forest at night.
Similar-looking species (4)
- Spotted Owl: Spotted Owls show white spotting rather than strong horizontal breast bars, and overlap with Barred Owls mainly in the Northwest.
- Great Gray Owl: Great Gray Owls are longer and grayer, with fine streaking, a huge facial disk, and yellow eyes.
- Great Horned Owl: Great Horned Owls have conspicuous ear tufts, yellow eyes, and a heavier, more angular head.
- American Barn Owl: American Barn Owls have a pale heart-shaped face and a slimmer, much paler build.
Barred Owl sounds FAQ
Does the Barred Owl call at night?
Yes. After dark, the sound you are most likely to hear is its who-cooks-for-you ("Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?"), though it is also heard at dawn, during the day and at dusk.
When does the Barred Owl call?
The Barred Owl is most vocal from January to March and from September to October, at any hour, day or night.