“Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?”
The Parklands is home to a host of the nation’s raptors (or, birds of prey, that hunt and feed on other animals). Now is a great time to listen to one of the most vocally talented of the group – the barred owl (we’re talking about quality calls that would have this owl winning “The Voice”).
Our park team has observed regular calling from barred owls in the Prairie Preserve area of Pope Lick Park recently. The calls may be heard all day, but we’ve noticed a sharp uptick in calls beginning in the early to mid-afternoon time frame.
The barred owl call is unique and can be easily identified because it sounds clearly like, “who cooks for you, who cooks for you all”. While the owls are tough to spot visually, given their secretive nature and very well camouflaged plumage, early fall is a great opportunity to get outdoors and listen their calls that we all too frequently miss in our busy and hectic lives.
For more information on barred owls, please visit this website below (you can also listen to their calls here):
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id/ac
For more information on owls in the park, read this blog post by Naturalist, Michael Gaige.
Photo by Mike Matthews