>From John Tebbutt
Frederick, MD
tebbutt at rhino.ncsl.nist.gov

I consider myself very fortunate last night to have almost bumped into
Thoreau's "winged brother of the cat" - about 6pm, in fairly good light,
a BARRED OWL came and alighted near the feeders in my yard, in the woods,
high atop Tebbutt Mountain. What a splendid individual it was, too!
However, I was later thrown into a quandry when I tried to read up on the
species, because both the Birder's Handbook and Lansdowne's Birds of the
Forest say that the bird tolerates close approach, and it not easily
flushed from its roost, while the Nat. Geo. Guide says exactly the opposite.

Who is right?

Best,

JT
==========================

From: Jacquelyn Owens <jeo2 at U.WASHINGTON.EDU>

I have been fortunate enough to see Barred Owls three times in a very open
area near a relatively busy road. They certainly all tolerated approach,
though I didn't want to go too close. The third time, however, there was
a guy in a van observing the bird from about ten feet away from it. The
owl seemed unperturbed by him, even when the guy started his van and took
off. So it would seem that at least some individuals tolerate close
approaches.
============================

From: Alexander Koonce <koonce at ULTRIX.UOR.EDU>

from: Sandy Koonce, U. of Redlands (Redlands, CA)

It has been my experience that Barred Owls, at least in upstate New York,
are extremely skittish of humans and don't allow very close approach at all.

Sandy Koonce
koonce at ultrix.uor.edu
=============================

From: Chris Sloan <cas5c at DARWIN.CLAS.VIRGINIA.EDU>

In my experience, Barred Owls have been very tolerant of
humands and I have often seen them perch right beside a
well-used trail at a local park. I would say the Geographic
is wrong about this one.
Chris Sloan
--
"Ipsa scientia potestas est."
====================================

From: Paul Wedeking <WEDEKING at BMS.COM>

In the spring of 1992 I visited Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Naples, FL.
There was a pair of Barred Owls that had established a territory near the
lettuce lake. One of the adults had a favorite branch located about 10
feet from the boardwalk that penetrates the swamp. On the day that I
visited the swamp, this owl used this perch to successfully capture
crawfish much to the delight of those that stood quietly and watched it.
The owl, however, did not seem to be concerned with all of the people
(birders and non-birders) that either stopped to watch quietly or stomped on
by in search of alligators!

I guess the answer to the Barred Owl Question is that it depends on where
you are and it depends on the owl. If the owl isn't threatened by our
presence, then the owl can be approached quite closely, and in Corkscrew
Swamp the owls have gotten use to all kinds of people and people can get
really close!

paul wedeking
pennington, nj
(wedeking at bms.com)
=======================

From: Gerry Rising <INSRISG at UBVMS.bitnet>

Several points with regard to Barred Owl skittishness:

1. They are indeed very difficult to approach here. Even when they
respond to calls, they don't approach very near. A number of
people have told me of "friendlier" barred owls in the south
and it may well be that region has a role.

2. But in the Adirondacks a pair called in were very inquisitive and
peered into flashlight beams without flushing, something they would
never do here to my knowledge. Could those have been young birds?

3. It would be interesting to collect observations to see if there
are factors that contribute: seasonal, regional, or age.

-----------------------------------------------
Gerry Rising insrisg at ubvms.bitnet
295 Robinhill Drive insrisg at ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
Williamsville, NY 14221-1639 716-689-8301
-----------------------------------------------
================================

From: Bart Hall_Beyer <barth at NCATFYV.UARK.EDU>

At least one of the "Lettuce Lake Owls" was still there (Corkscrew
Swamp) in November, 1993. He was very responsive to my calling and
flew over from about 50 metres away to less than 5 metres - he
obviously knew I wasn't an owl, but I've never had such an easy time
calling one up. We looked each other over for about ten minutes, and
to be somewhat anthropomorphic about it, he seemed a bit jilted when
I walked away (I was virtually alone).

The reason I walked away was an unmistakable limpkin call some
distance away...when I finally tracked down the limpkin, I spent a
most enjoyable twenty minutes or so, just watchin' him be a limpkin.

All in all, one of my favorite places to bird; I saw twenty-some
species that morning, none of them new for me, but every one of them
special.

Bart Hall-Beyer,
Fayetteville, Arkansas
===========================

From: Doug Scofield <doog at AMBER.SSD.CSD.HARRIS.COM>

a couple weeks ago we were wandering the boardwalk at corkscrew swamp.
we heard a barred owl call a few times, and once we got near the lettuce
pond there was a cluster of people and a scope set up -- a barred owl was
roosting about twenty feet off the boardwalk in deep shade but plain and
open view, head-height to the boardwalk about eight feet above water
level. there were a lot of gawking people, but it preened and didn't
seem stressed.

it was a nice trip, a pair of pine warblers checking out a site right over
the trail in the pinelands, lots of parulas singing in the deep cypress,
a half-dozen or more great crested flycatchers and great views of solitary
vireos.

doog
--
doug scofield doog at ssd.csd.harris.com (preferred)
harris computer systems uunet!csd.harris.com!dgscofield
"nothin' left to do but :-) ;-) 8-)"
=======================

From: Jacquelyn Owens <jeo2 at U.WASHINGTON.EDU>

I'm sorry. I was in a hurry to reply to the original question and forgot
to mention that the Barred Owls I saw were all in winter ( 1 in January, 2
in December) and all seen on Whidbey Island, Washington. It was also in
the middle of storms each time (heavy rain in December and the end of a
snowstorm in January>. Perhaps these were all factors increasing the
approachability of the birds.

Jackie Owens
jeo2 at u.washington.edu
Seattle, WA