The Barred Owl is common in east Tennessee. I photographed this one at Frozen Head State Park during a ranger presentation. It was injured as a youngster when it became tangled in a barbed wire fence, the damaged wing had to be removed. I once called up one of these owls while leading a naturalist hike at Tremont in the Great Smoky Mountains. My fellow hikers and I were amazed when a large owl flew silently into a nearby tree. The call of the Barred Owl sounds like, "Who, who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?" They must be southern owls! :) These owls are helpful predators, they eat mice, rats, squirrels, and snakes. Owls can't turn their heads all the way around as some people mistakenly believe. Being nocturnal, owls have large eyes so they can take in small amounts of light, even from the stars. They have such big eyes they can't move them, so they turn their head. The ears of owls are asymmetrical (one higher than the other) so they can triangulate to find their prey at night.
This one-eyed Great Horned owl, injured when it was young, lives in an enclosure at Frozen Head and is used in ranger-led programs. It is not hard to understand why people who handle birds of prey have to wear heavy gloves! The owl's beak and talons would easily pierce the handler's skin and muscle.
Look at the large eye sockets of this owl's skull. Birds have hollow bones to make them lighter. They have the same bones as we do, they are just different length and sizes.
