Hoot Owls

     When I was a child visiting people with my parents on wooded Mine Ridge in southern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I heard an owl hooting eerily after dark.  It frightened me at first, but the resident peoples' knowing smiles reassured me.  Later, I learned I had heard a great horned owl, one of two hoot owls in Lancaster County.  And, through the years, I have heard both species many times, in many places. 
      Some people call owls "hoot owls" and, indeed, great horned owls and barred owls, including in Lancaster County, do hoot, loudly.  But each of these owl species hoots with a different rhythm so they, and we, can distinguish between the species.  Them to find mates and we to identify them without seeing them.  Horned owl hooting starts with three quick hoots, followed by two long ones.  The classic hooting of barred owls has eight short hoots, followed by a descending "aahhh".
     The boisterous hooting of these owl species at night can be scary to some people.  But that calling is also thrilling, making the night "come more to life".  There always is an air of mystery and intrigue to the vocalizing of owls.
     Great horned owls are common in woods, and older suburbs with many tall trees, throughout North America, except in the high Arctic.  Barred owls live in bottomland woods near creeks, swamps and impoundments in the eastern two-thirds of North America from the southern tip of James Bay in Canada south to the Gulf of Mexico.  Barred owls are most common, however, in the Deep South.  By using different habitats, these two kinds of big owls lessen competition for space and food between them.
     Horned owls and barred owls are both permanent residents in Lancaster County, as they are everywhere.  Both are attractive with camouflaged feathering that allow them to be hidden when perching quietly in trees during the day so birds won't find them and pest them all day, interrupting their rest before hunting at night.
     Like all owls, these are hunters, feeding on rodents, rabbits and other creatures.  Barred owls are also inclined to catching frogs and other bottom land woods and water animals.  Both species usually stay away from he other one, but there is some overlap.
     In Lancaster County, horned owls begin courting in December.  By the end of January here, each female lays one to three eggs in a stick platform she commandeered.  Horned owls don't build nests, but take over those built by hawks, herons or crows.  About a month later the chicks hatch, leave their nurseries by mid-April, but are fed by their parents until the beginning of June.  Then they are on their own, just when their prey species are most abundant.  By courting and nesting in winter, these owls have their young independent when there's plenty of food available for them. 
     Barred owls lay one to three eggs in a tree hollow large enough to accomodate them.  They have competition for nesting cavities from a variety of animals, including raccoons, wood ducks, colonies of honey bees and other creatures.  They, too, have their offspring independent by summer when prey animals are most abundant.
     Horned owls and barred owls hoot loudly and are called "hoot owls" by some people who may not understand them.  But all owls are handsome in appearance, interesting in their daily habits, especially their hooting, and keep rodent populations under control.  And they are harmless to us.  They are worth enjoying and there's no reason to be alarmed by them.