The answer to last week’s mystery is barred owl, Strix varia, pictured below:
Known colloquially as the hoot owl, the barred owl is not migratory. Most rarely move far from their home range, and likely mate for life. Barred owls raise one brood per year.
Unlike other owls, barred owls may be heard calling during the daytime. They perch in forest trees during the day and usually hunt near dawn or dusk. Owls are unable to move their eyes, so they have developed an incredibly flexible neck that allows them to turn their head 270 degrees. It is the owl’s facial disc that enables them to hear soft rustling in the grass, as the disc funnels and amplifies sound to their ears.
This large owl has no ear tufts and has dark brown eyes. The barred owl can be recognized by the “barred” feather pattern running horizontally across its chest and down its belly.
Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.
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