Barred Owl

BARRED OWL: Being A “Generalist”

Barred Owl is a great actor. Using his voice to great effect, He startles others with a loud and resounding hoot. Barred Owl may seem imposing, but He is actually quite harmless.

As the most benign of Owls, Barred Owl reassures others with his charm and grace. With his big round head and black eyes, He is the prototypical Owl of fairy tales and children’s picture books. His melodious call “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” often elicits positive feelings.

Called “Barred”, this Owl has horizontal barring on his chest and vertical bars on his stomach. He is abundant in wetlands, swamps, and second growth forests. Not fussy at all, Barred Owl will use hollow trees or abandoned squirrel nests to raise his Owlets in. He eats anything He finds from Fish to Lizards to Rabbits. Barred Owl’s scientific name, Strix varia (“Diverse Owl”), reflects his diverse nature. People’s names for Him also reflect this. They also call Him: Swamp Owl, Hoot Owl, Eight Hooter, Wood and Rain Owl.

Barred Owl teaches the value of being a “generalist”. Instead of relying on one area to live in or one animal to prey upon, He lives almost anywhere He can and eats whatever He finds. Even as people modified the land, Barred Owl expanded his range and his numbers. Learn how to be a “generalist” from Barred Owl.

Barred Owl’s Teachings Includes:
Using Your Voice to Great Effect
How to be a Good Actor
Reassuring People
How to Be Charming
Having an Affinity With Children

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Copyright: Virginia Carper, Animal Teachers, 2009

From Universal Class, fun self-paced classes taught by me:

Finding Your Animal Teachers

Animals For Everyone: Mammals

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Tawny Owl: The Crone of the Night (Cailleach-oidhche)

(Picture Copyright : The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds(www.http://www.rspb.org.uk/))

The earliest records show that tawny owl has inhabited Eurasia since the end of the Ice Age. Nesting in tree holes and squirrel dreys, tawny owl is the most numerous owl of the forests. Largely nocturnal, she is extremely adaptable, and has made her home in city parks.

Tawny owl’s distinctive “twit twoo” is well known to people. Some of their many names for her reflects this: Brown Hoolert, Ferry Hoolet, and Hill Hooter. However, the hooting is a mated pair of tawny owls communicating with each other. The male owl says, “twit”, and female owl answers, “twoo”. Together it sounds as if one owl is calling.

The Celtics were of two minds concerning tawny owl. They regarded her to be both wise and a bringer of death. They called tawny owl “Night Hag” and “Corpse Bird”. Her Gaelic name “cailleach-oidhche” is a direct reference to the Celtic Goddess of Death (The Cailleach Bheur), the blue-faced crone of winter and death.

However, tawny owl is one of the five totem animals of the Celts. The earliest story of King Arthur tells of his search for the Divine Youth Mabon. He went to the Blackbird of the forge, who sent him to the Stag, who lead him to Owl of Cawluryd. This Owl guided him to Golden Eagle who took him to Salmon, the Source of All Wisdom. In this myth, each animal imparts a certain wisdom to those who seek them. Owl’s wisdom is that of objectivity and detachment. Adept at disappearing from view, tawny owl came to symbolize esoteric wisdom and secrecy. Druids wore cloaks of owl feathers for this reason.

From Nature to Myth: Owls and People

Owls spark people’s imaginations. These silent predators of the night both inspire and frighten people. For nighttime, when owls are most active, is also when magic is afoot. To many people, seeing these shadowy birds with their glowing yellow eyes is to experience the Other Worlds.
This worldwide Order of Birds ranges from tiny elf owl of North America to huge eagle owl of Eurasia. As predators, owls regard anything that moves as fair game. While elf owl eats insects, eagle owl feasts on deer. Because most owls fly at night, they occupy the same niche in the eco-system as hawks and eagles. Native Americans called the Owl Family “Night Eagles”.

Owls are divided into two families-True Owls (Strigidae) and the older family of Tytonidae, to which only barn owl and bay owl belongs. Barn owls can be thought of as the more ancient version of “Owl”. They do not hoot like true owls, but instead make a hoarse “Khurrew” noise. In addition, they have heart-shaped faces, longer beaks and heads, and forked tails. Barn owls live in Europe and the Western Hemisphere, and bay owls live in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Australia. This makes the Barn Owl Sub-Family, one of the most widespread land birds in the world. The round-headed owls, that most people see, are from the larger Strigidae Family which contains 300 species.

Because so few birds are nocturnal and the majority of owls (Strigiformes) are, most people respected but distrusted them. The Japanese regarded barn owl and horned owls as demonic. In Borneo, Scops owls were thought of as ill omens to be avoided at all costs. The Romans believed that any owl sucked the blood of babies.

However, the ancient Greeks welcomed little owl as their Goddess of Wisdom’s Friend. In Hawai’i, Pueo (Hawaiian Owl) is a protector. As ‘Aumakau, Pueo is the ancestor guardian who watches over the family. Because barn owl saved Genghis Khan from his enemies, Mongolians revered her. Meanwhile, the Celts look upon tawny owl as one of the five oldest animals on earth.

For owl empowerments and other animal consultations:

http://funkman.org/animal/services/serviceslink.html