Bird

Barred Owl

Strix varia

Lives in North Carolina all year and nests here. Found in all 100 counties, across 15 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 15

Male Barred Owl, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Marcel_Pepin, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 363874135. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 15
Habitat models: Year-round

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 15

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 15

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine ModifierNamed place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trail on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsGeorge Inness, Georgia Pines (1890): tall, straight pines over an open, grassy floor in a south Georgia pine woods. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Georgia pine woods (George Inness, 1890; site not named), a neighboring state.Georgia Pines, George Inness (1825-1894), 1890. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointCove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouth-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)*Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70*, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested WetlandNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

Year-roundSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest

Northern hardwood forests

High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.

Year-round

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

Year-roundCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Other habitats in its models (77)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

In North Carolina 1

Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.

Elsewhere in the South (35)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Year-round.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Year-round.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Year-round.
Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Year-round.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
South Florida Cypress Dome Year-round.
South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Year-round.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Year-round.
South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Year-round.
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Year-round.

Northeast (5)

Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Year-round.
Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Year-round.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Year-round.

Midwest (4)

North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Year-round.
North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Year-round.

Land cover and other classes (32)

Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Year-round.
Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Year-round.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Year-round.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Year-round.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Year-round.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Year-round.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.

The model selects forest interior beyond the immediate edge.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

Year-round: nests here, in all 100 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.