title: Ninth Doctor

text: The character featured in comic strips in "Doctor Who Magazine" between 2005 and 2006 as well as in several short stories in the "Doctor Who Annual 2006". In Steven Moffat's Ninth Doctor short story "'What I Did on My Christmas Holidays' by Sally Sparrow" the Doctor and the TARDIS are inadvertently separated twenty years in time by a fault in the time machine and the Doctor is able to instruct Sally how to bring it back to him in the past. This short story later became the basis of the third series episode "Blink". The Ninth Doctor has appeared in IDW Comics "Doctor Who: The Forgotten" and "Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time".


title: Ninth Doctor

text: The Ninth Doctor made his first official, original audio story appearance in Big Finish/AudioGo's "Destiny of the Doctor: Night of the Whisper", released in September 2013 for 50th anniversary of "Doctor Who". He is joined by companions Rose and Captain Jack, and Nicholas Briggs reads the story and provides his voice. Briggs reprised the role for "The Ninth Doctor Chronicles", released in May 2017. In 2019, Nicholas Briggs narrated a short trip from the Ninth Doctor era titled "Battle Scars".


title: Ninth Doctor

text: Released on the 7 October 2021, "The Ashes of Eternity" was an exclusive-to-audio story from BBC Audio in collaboration with Penguin Books featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose. It was written by Niel Bushnell and read by Adjoa Andoh.


title: Ninth Doctor

text: On 9 August 2020, Big Finish announced that Christopher Eccleston would reprise his role as the Ninth Doctor for twelve new stories in "The Ninth Doctor Adventures". The first series, consisting of four volumes, were released between May 2021 and February 2022. Eccleston began studio recording for the first box set - "Ravagers" - on the 14th December 2020. "The Ninth Doctor Adventures" take place prior to the events of "Rose" and sees the Doctor fighting Cybermen, meeting Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and taking on a temporary companion in the form of Nova (Camilla Beeput).


title: Ninth Doctor

text: The Doctor had been played by eight actors between when the series began in 1963 and the casting of Christopher Eccleston; the concept of regeneration—a process in which the title character takes on a new body and identity—had been introduced in 1966 to allow the production team to change lead actors. Between 1963 and 1989 seven different actors played the part. The Eighth Doctor, played by Paul McGann, appeared in a BBC/Fox co-produced television film in 1996, however this did not lead to a full series. Over six weeks in 2003, the BBC posted an animated serial called "Scream of the Shalka" on their official website. This was originally developed as an official continuation to series, and featured Richard E Grant in the role of the Doctor. In promoting the online serial, Grant was referred to as the official Ninth Doctor by the BBC. However, following the September 2003 announcement that the series would return to television with a new actor in the title role, the canonical status of the so-called "Shalka Doctor" was left in doubt.


title: Ninth Doctor

text: Christopher Eccleston's casting as the Ninth Doctor was announced on 22 March 2004. He was the production team's first choice for the character. Other actors linked to the role included Bill Nighy, Richard E Grant, Anthony Head, Eddie Izzard, Hugh Grant and Alan Davies. Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, stated in the announcement of his casting that casting an actor of Eccleston's reputation signalled "our intention to take "Doctor Who" into the 21st century, as well as retaining its core traditional values – to be surprising, edgy and eccentric". Executive Producer Russell T Davies remarked that casting Eccleston "raises the bar for all of us". Eccleston cited the quality of the scripts as a reason for joining the cast, stating in an interview on BBC's Breakfast programme that he was "excited" about working with Davies. In the press-pack for the series he states that he had emailed the writer to declare his interest in the role. Eccleston enjoyed having the chance to work on a series aimed at a different demographic than his previous work, noting that "it's aimed at families, so I'm kind of acting for children and I feel very lucky to be able to do that". He felt that being cast by Davies in the series was a "risk" because as an actor he is not known for "charm or comedy" and anticipated a potential backlash due to being built up as "an actor of stature" and the difference between his own interpretation of the character and past doctors.


title: Ninth Doctor

text: On 30 March 2005 the BBC confirmed that Eccleston would not be staying in the role for a second series, claiming that he was scared of being typecast. On 4 April they admitted that this statement had been made without consulting the actor, and were forced to apologise. Speaking to the "Yorkshire Evening Post" in 2010, Eccleston denied that he left due to fear of being typecast. He stated that he "didn't enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in" and that he did not want to do any more based on the experience. He said, "I wasn't comfortable. I thought 'If I stay in this job, I'm going to have to blind myself to certain things that I thought were wrong.' And I think it's more important to be your own man than be successful, so I left. But the most important thing is that I did it, not that I left. I really feel that, because it kind of broke the mould and it helped to reinvent it. I'm very proud of it." According to the "Sunday Mirror", an interview for BBC's "Doctor Who" website that was taken down after his departure revealed that Eccleston had planned to stay for two or three more years. In March 2013 a source for the BBC indicated that Eccleston had discussed plans for "Doctor Who"s 50th anniversary special, which aired in November 2013, with Davies' successor as executive producer, Steven Moffat. After consideration, he decided not to return to the series. Had he returned, his incarnation would have played the role that ultimately became the War Doctor, portrayed by John Hurt.


title: Ninth Doctor

text: Eccleston stated in April 2004 that he did not believe his Doctor would be "as eccentric and as foppish as he was in some of his incarnations". Russell T Davies characterised the character as a "stripped down" version of previous Doctors. Regarding the Ninth Doctor's less eccentric character, Davies stated: "He travels in time and space, he's got two hearts, he's a Time Lord — that's eccentric enough to be getting on with". In contrast with previous Doctors, the Ninth Doctor speaks with a distinct Northern dialect, mirroring Eccleston's natural Manchester dialect. This is addressed in "Rose" when Rose Tyler asks the Doctor, "If you're an alien, how come you sound like you're from the North?", to which the Doctor responds, "Lots of planets have a north!" Remarking on this aspect of his characterisation Eccleston states that the character "is a scientist and an intellectual, and a lot of people seem to think you can only be those things if you speak with received pronunciation which, of course, is rubbish." In regards to the Doctor's costume, consisting of simply a black leather pea coat, a sweater and dark trousers, Eccleston stated, "I didn't want the costume to be my performance" and that "I wanted any flamboyance and colour to come out of my acting." Eccleston thought that as the Doctor he should show a "slight dark side" but also bring out a lighter side. Executive producer Julie Gardner observed that the Ninth Doctor gave Eccleston the chance to be "very intense but also frivolous as well."


title: Ninth Doctor

text: Eccleston felt that as a character his Doctor lives solely for the present. He avoids thinking about his past because "there's some pain there" – and his only concern regarding the future is that "it's there". Eccleston felt that the character ultimately provides a life-affirming message stating that "In everything the Doctor does, he is saying 'it's great to be alive'." In an interview with Newsround he stated that the Doctor accepts individuals regardless of colour and creed and expressed hope that the Doctor would encourage young children to appreciate life. However, he also drew out differences between the Doctor and traditional children's heroes. The actor described the character as "brutal at times" and "confrontational" and "inflexible" stating that he "sometimes creates carnage" and that "there's nobody like him in Disney". Matthew Sweet of "The Evening Standard" highlighted the dichotomy of the character being "brave and wise and brilliant" but also "rough and ready" and "down-to-earth".


title: Ninth Doctor

text: A loose story arc that informed the Doctor's characterisation during the 2005 series is his feelings regarding the destruction of his own race, the Time Lords, which occurred offscreen before episode one. Eccleston felt that the episode "Dalek" showed the audience why his Doctor is the way he is and "how he feels about his past". Russell T Davies remarked that the Ninth Doctor carries a lot of survival guilt; this is why he "strides through the universe wearing a dark leather peacoat saying "Don't touch me"". Davies felt that "Dalek" provided a "bit of therapy" and after this he "starts to rebuild himself". In the episode "The Parting of the Ways" the Doctor sacrifices his ninth life to save Rose. Davies felt it was important to take the Doctor away from mythological off stage concepts such as the Time War and provide a conclusion that focused on the relationship between the character and Rose. John Barrowman, who played Captain Jack, felt that the Doctor's decision to save Rose enabled a catharsis; as he sacrifices himself to save her he is "letting go of the burden of the Time Lords being destroyed".


title: Ninth Doctor

text: Since 1963, the Doctor has travelled with various companions who generally serve to remind him of his "moral duty". The casting of Billie Piper as the Ninth Doctor's primary female companion Rose Tyler was announced in May 2004. Julie Gardner felt that the young actress and former pop star was perfect as a "unique" and "dynamic" companion for the Doctor. Press for the series focused heavily on the fact that Rose was to be more independent and courageous than previous companions. Prior to the casting of Piper, Eccleston had joked that "I'll be doing the running around screaming." He later opined that Rose is not as "vulnerable" as previous companions and that "she's as brave and courageous and intelligent as he is" citing the fact that she saves the Doctor's life. Piper remarked that the Doctor challenges Rose more than anyone else in her life and that he in turn sees in her "she has huge potential, to be someone really, really great." Eccleston felt that Rose is a "heroine" who "teaches [the Doctor] huge emotional lessons". He felt that the relationship between the two characters was "love at first sight" although in a more mysterious fashion than a conventional love affair. Commentators on the series noted the romantic tension between the two characters. In their book "Who is the Doctor?", Graeme Burk and Robert Smith described the climactic kiss between the Ninth Doctor and Rose in "The Parting of the Ways" as being something "we all secretly wanted, even though it ultimately killed him".


title: Ninth Doctor

text: Adam Mitchell joins the Doctor and Rose in the episode "Dalek". The character was first conceived during Russell T Davies' 2003 pitch to the BBC: it was always the intention for Adam to join the TARDIS team after Rose developed a liking for him. Contrasting against Rose, Adam was created to show that not everybody is suited to be a companion. Davies stated that he "always wanted to do a show with someone who was a rubbish companion" and dubbed Adam "the companion that couldn't". Upon returning Adam home, the Doctor informs him that "I only take the best. I've got Rose". Fraser McAlpine, reviewing Adam's appearances as companion for BBC America's Anglophenia blog, described Adam as fulfilling a role as "the companion that proves the worth of all of the other companions". From episodes nine through thirteen, Rose and the Doctor are joined by the con man Jack Harkness. Jack's appearances were conceived with the intention of forming a character arc in which Jack is transformed from a coward to a hero. John Barrowman, reflecting on the interrelationships between The Doctor, Jack and Rose, felt that "the subtle sexual chemistry between all three characters... was always in play" with the caveat that "the relationships were by no means driven by desire". "SFX" magazine also commented on the "intoxicatingly flirtatious dynamic" and compared the trio to "a "Buffy"-style Scooby gang who can quip in the face of danger". Jack parts from the Ninth Doctor with a kiss which Barrowman felt to be "full of fondess and respect" and both "a significant moment in the annals of the series" and "a moment full of melancholy and loss for the characters".


title: Ninth Doctor

text: James Delingpole of "The Spectator" noted that subsequent to Fourth Doctor Tom Baker's departure and prior to Eccleston, actors who portrayed the Doctor had a tendency to play the role "too camp, knowing, lovable or twee". He felt that the "brusque, sarky and virile" Ninth Doctor "transports us back to the golden era of Jon Pertwee when the series still had that edge of darkness." Marena Manzoufas, head of ABC programming, commented after picking up the series that Eccleston "has brought a new dynamic energy to the role" and the show would appeal to both long time viewers and new fans. She cited the high viewing figures of Eccleston's debut episode—over 10 million—as proof that audiences were ready to welcome in a new era of the show. Looking back on David Tennant's era and forward to Matt Smith, "The Herald"s Edd McCracken comments that casting Tennant had been a risk after "the show's reputation and ratings" had been "restored under Eccleston". However he notes that due to the brevity of the Ninth Doctor's era Tennant subsequently had time to make his character more established. Richard Henley Davis of "The Economic Voice" also notes that Tennant "had big boots to fill after Christopher Eccleston's Doctor Who, which many believe to be the greatest incarnation of the lunatic time lord." In a 2005 interview Tennant himself stated "there's an awful lot to live up to" after taking on the role from Eccleston, having admired his performances as a viewer.


title: Ninth Doctor

text: Like Delingpole, Andrew Blair found similarities between the Ninth Doctor era and the Third Doctor era, summarising Eccleston's single series as "a modern day season seven". In his retrospective of the character, he states that Eccleston's casting proved that the revival of the show "was not a light entertainment concern". He comments that in online fandom there was a sense "of a ship being steered in a different direction" and praises the plot device of the Time War as allowing the character to become mysterious again by providing him a "blank slate". He compares the Ninth Doctor to the First Doctor (William Hartnell) in that both characters are "an unknown who remains aggressively weird until his new-found human friends soften him up". Blair also felt that the Ninth Doctor's relationship with the Doctor's arch enemies the Daleks was more successful than in other incarnations giving particular praise to Eccleston's "spittle-enhanced and terrifyingly furious reaction" to the monsters in "Dalek". Blair ends his retrospective by noting that without the foundations laid by Eccleston the show "wouldn't have been able to move onwards towards the even more popular David Tennant era". Steven Moffat, who wrote "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" for Eccleston's Doctor and would become "Doctor Who" executive producer in 2010, observed that in 2005 there was a distinct lack of science fiction and fantasy drama in the UK. He felt that the first series had to establish itself as "a bit "Hollyoaks"" and "a bit tough detective" to prove itself as a "proper, sensible drama series". Moffat notes that the 2005 series "changed the landscape into which it once tried to fit" and that now "Doctor Who" "has to be the most fantastical of the fantasy shows."


title: Ninth Doctor

text: Ahead of the series premiere on Australian Network ABC the "Sydney Morning Herald"s Robin Oliver predicted that older viewers "will find Eccleston easily the best time lord since Tom Baker." However Harry Venning of "The Stage", whilst enthusiastic about the revival of the show, labelled Eccleston as the "show's biggest disappointment" following the premiere episode, stating he looked uncomfortable in a fantasy role. "The Guardian" Stephen Kelly felt that Eccleston's Ninth Doctor had many faults, two of which he felt to be "looking like an "EastEnders" extra and bellowing "fantastic" at every opportunity". However, he felt that he "brought warmth, wit and promise" and a "formidable presence". Kelly believed that Eccleston was believable as a man who had destroyed two civilisations and was dealing with the repercussions and could have brought more to the show had Eccleston stayed for a second series. Seventh Doctor actor Sylvester McCoy praised Eccleston as being "quite alien" as the Doctor and that "we were not sure if he was on the edge of insanity or not, which was rather good." Peter Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor, criticised Eccleston's decision to quit after a single series, stating "I don't think you can engage with the new Doctor in the way you should be able to."


title: Ninth Doctor

text: In 2005 Christopher Eccleston won "Most Popular Actor" at the National Television Awards and the TV Quick and TV Choice award for Best Actor. He was also voted Best Actor by readers of "SFX" magazine. Eccleston was named Best Actor with 59.42% of the vote in BBC.co.uk's online "Best of Drama" poll in 2005. In a "Doctor Who Magazine" poll in 2006 Eccleston was voted the third greatest Doctor behind those portrayed by Tom Baker and David Tennant. In April 2011 IGN also listed Eccleston's Doctor as the third best Doctor, opining that he "gave us a tough-as-nails Doctor damaged by war and guilt, but still possessing the same spark of fun and adventure as his previous selves." The entertainment website stated that in introducing a new generation to the show he "became an icon for a new millennium." Gavin Fuller of "The Daily Telegraph" named him the ninth best Doctor, noting that Eccleston was "a serious actor" and "his attempts at a lighter style could seem a tad forced", though this was "offset by his showdowns against the Daleks". Fuller also was disappointed that his "time was over all too swiftly". A 2012 poll conducted by the United States media news magazine "Entertainment Weekly" resulted in Eccleston being voted the fourth most popular Doctor, behind David Tennant, Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor) and Tom Baker.


title: Spam musubi

text: Spam musubi is a snack and lunch food composed of a slice of grilled Spam sandwiched either in between or on top of a block of rice, wrapped together with nori in the tradition of Japanese "onigiri".


title: Spam musubi

text: Inexpensive and portable, Spam musubi are commonly found near cash registers in convenience stores or mom-and-pop shops all over Hawaii, Guam and Hawaiian Barbecue restaurants in the mainland United States. Musubi can be easily made with the right materials, and typically only uses spam, rice, some salt, nori and shoyu (soy sauce). In Hawaii, musubi made from homemade spam is served on catering trays at formal events by celebrity chefs such as Alan Wong at his exclusive restaurants.


title: Spam musubi

text: Spam musubi is a derivative of Musubi which originally came to Hawaii from Japan. It was a popular item among the lunchboxes of Hawaiian plantation workers.


title: Spam musubi

text: The origin of Spam musubi is disputed. Survivors of the Japanese American internment camps on the mainland of the United States claim to have invented the precursor to Spam musubi, when they placed seasoned slices of Spam on white rice in a baking pan. However, most origin stories focus on Spam's ubiquity in Hawaii during and in the aftermath of World War II. With few other options, the canned meat was incorporated into local cuisines wherever American troops were stationed. For example, South Korea's budae-jjigae, a stew of surplus U.S. military foods, included Spam. In the United Kingdom, where Spam was ubiquitous during the hardship of the post-War years, Spam acquired a stigma exemplified by the 1970 Monty Python sketch. Spam may not have been abandoned in the Pacific like it was in the U.K. simply because of the comparative economic deprivation experienced in the Pacific region.


title: Spam musubi

text: The "Honolulu Star-Bulletin" stated in 2002 that "There is no definitive history for this aberration." Still, the newspaper relayed that a 2001 cookbook stated that the potential creator is Mitsuko Kaneshiro, who began selling them out of City Pharmacy on Pensacola Street in Honolulu and by the early 1980s was selling 500 handmade Spam musubi a day out of her own shop, Michan's Musubi. The other person said to be the creator of Spam musubi is Barbara Funamura of Kauai. Funamura sold Spam musubi out of the Joni-Hana restaurant in the Kukui Grove Center. "The Garden Island" in 1983 described it as, "Spam and rice, two local favorites, are combined in an enormous musubi (rice ball) wrapped in nori (sheets of dried seaweed)," with Funamura quoted, "That's the Spam musubi." Eventually Funamura's musubi was made using a box mold, taking on its familiar form.


title: Spam musubi

text: In 1999, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue introduced the Hawaii regional snack as a menu item in its first mainland U.S. restaurant in Puente Hills, California. As the Hawaii-based chain grew across several American states, so did the awareness and popularity of the snack, eventually becoming a mainstay on the menu, and making L&L the first restaurant chain to make the snack available nationally.


title: Spam musubi

text: On August 8, 2021, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue established "National SPAM® Musubi Day" to celebrate the iconic snack from Hawaii. The holiday was officially recognized by Hawaii Governor David Y. Ige. with a public proclamation.


title: Spam musubi

text: Typical preparation begins with grilling or frying slices of Spam, sometimes with a light teriyaki flavor. It uses a sauce in which soy sauce and granulated sugar are typically the basic ingredients. Using a mold the same size as a slice of Spam, a layer of cooked rice is pressed down over a strip of nori, with a slice of Spam on top of that, and then, optionally, another layer of rice. The mold is removed and the nori is wrapped over the top and around the musubi. It is served sometimes with soy sauce or Japanese mayonnaise. Guam's "Pacific Daily News" describes the local version: "a slice of Spam is bathed in teriyaki sauce before topping a mound of rice with a dash of furikake and wrapped in a strip of nori." Another Guam recipe calls for Sriracha mayonnaise.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is a 2013 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The sequel to 2009's "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", the film was directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller returning as executive producers. Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, and Benjamin Bratt reprise their roles from the first film, while Will Forte, who voiced Joseph Towne in the first film, voices Chester V in this film. New cast members include Kristen Schaal as Chester's orangutan assistant, Barb, and Terry Crews as Earl Devereaux, replacing Mr. T. The film's plot focuses on Flint Lockwood and his friends returning to Swallow Falls to save the world after the presumed-destroyed FLDSMDFR reactivates, this time creating sentient food creatures.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" was released in the United States on September 27, 2013, and grossed over $274 million worldwide against its budget of $78 million making it the lowest grossing "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" movie of the franchise, but still a box office success. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, though it was deemed inferior to its predecessor.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: After scientist Flint Lockwood saved his island Chewandswallow from his invention, the "Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator" (aka the FLDSMDFR), Chester V, the CEO of "Live Corp" and Flint's childhood idol, offers his company's services to help clean the food off the island. He hires Flint, but during his short tenure at Live Corp, Flint enters a competition for a promotion, only to publicly humiliate himself by accident via an invention of his called a "Party in a Box", which prematurely goes off when he does not win.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: Later on, Chester informs Flint that the FLDSMDFR is still functioning and creating sentient food creatures known as foodimals, one of which attacked his employees stationed on Swallow Falls. Chester tells Flint that he needs to travel alone to the island, find the FLDSMDFR, and insert a USB flash drive-like device known as the "BS-USB" to shut it down. However, Flint takes his pet monkey Steve, his meteorologist girlfriend Sam Sparks, her cameraman Manny, police officer Earl Devereaux, and former mascot of Chewandswallow “Chicken” Brent McHale. Flint also grudgingly accepts the help of Tim, his widowed father, who takes them to the island using his fishing boat. When Chester learns that Flint is not alone, he and his much-abused orangutan assistant Barb gather some of their employees and follow.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: While Tim stays on the boat and makes friends with some living pickles, Flint and his friends work their way through the jungle-like environment of food that now completely covers the island. They encounter many foodimals, including a living strawberry Sam names "Barry". A Cheespider, the foodimal that attacked Chester's employees, chases Flint and the gang, but Chester arrives, scaring it off and joining the mission. Sam becomes suspicious of Chester's motives, as his claims about the foodimals being dangerous do not align with what they have observed. Flint is too afraid of failure to listen, eventually leading Sam, Earl, Manny and Brent to strike out on their own. They re-encounter and befriend the Cheespider, discovering that it was only acting hostile toward people wearing Live Corp gear. When the group deduces that the foodimals have realized something sinister about the company, as the "live" part of its name is an anagram of "evil", they are then captured by Chester's employees when they attempt to go back and warn Flint.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: Flint, Chester, and Barb track down the FLDSMDFR, but after meeting and befriending some living marshmallows it created, Flint defies Chester and refuses to use the BS-USB. However, Chester inadvertently inserts the device into the machine himself, revealing it to be a hacking device designed to reprogram it. With the FLDSMDFR now under his control, Chester disposes of Flint and starts capturing foodimals, intent on using them as the key ingredients for Live Corp's upcoming line of food bars, as he discovered that the FLDSMDFR's food tastes better than average food. The marshmallows rescue Flint and reunite him with Tim. The duo realize that, without the FLDSMDFR, the existing foodimals will die out. As Flint offers his condolences, he is surprised to discover that the foodimals, having watched archive footage of him creating the FLDSMDFR, revere him as their creator. Inspired, Flint vows to save the island.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: Tim and the foodimals catapult Flint and Barry into the unfinished Live Corp base. Some captive foodimals are freed by Barry, and they help fight off the company's employees. Flint confronts Chester, who threatens to turn his friends into food bars as well. When Barb begins to show reluctance, Chester dismisses her and battles Flint alone. Flint uses his "Party in a Box" invention to defeat him and save his friends. Chester attempts to escape with the FLDSMDFR, and is pursued by the foodimals and Flint's group. Barb turns on Chester for his abuse and steals the machine back, while Chester is eaten by the Cheespider. Flint returns the FLDSMDFR to where it was found, frees it from Chester's control, and reconciles with his friends. The residents of Swallow Falls return to their proper homes, adapting to the altered ecosystem and happily continuing their lives. The FLDSMDFR continues creating foodimals, which live and co-exist peacefully alongside the islanders.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: The sequel was announced in April 2010, when website io9 reported that the original film’s directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, would not return for the sequel. In December 2011, it was reported that Cody Cameron, one of the story artists on the first film, and Kris Pearn, the head of story on the first, would direct the sequel, with Lord and Miller serving as executive producers. John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Erica Rivinoja wrote the screenplay, which is based on an original story idea, not on "Pickles to Pittsburgh", Ron and Judi Barrett's follow-up book. In February 2012, it was announced that the sequel would be titled "Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers", but it was later retitled to "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2".


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, and Benjamin Bratt reprised their roles. The role of Earl, the town cop, was taken over by Terry Crews, since Mr. T declined to reprise the role. Kristen Schaal joined the cast to voice Barb, a talking and lipstick-wearing orangutan with a human brain. Will Forte, who voiced Joseph Towne in the first film, voices Chester V, a world-famous super-inventor who commands Barb and is the head of the Live Corp Company. On January 17, 2013, concept art from the film was released.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: The music was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh. Cody Simpson provided a single "La Da Dee", which was played at the film's end credits. Simpson also performed in a music video that incorporated footage from the film. Paul McCartney's single, "New", from his 2013 album, was featured in the film.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" was originally scheduled for release on December 20, 2013, then pushed to February 7, 2014, before moving up to September 27, 2013.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: In promotional events before the film's release, Sony Pictures Animation partnered with some produce companies to provide more than of produce for Feeding America's action to help children and families in need. Several food-packing events across the country were organized, with Anna Faris and Will Forte attending the main one in Los Angeles. Sony teamed up with marketing partners in the United States to promote the film through Subway Kids Meals with a set of 6 customized bags.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 28, 2014. The home media was accompanied by a quartet of animated shorts based on the main feature: "Super Manny", "Earl Scouts", "Steve's First Bath", and "Attack of the 50-Foot Gummi Bear". Two of the shorts, "Super Manny" and "Earl Scouts", were already released online before the media release, premiering in October 2013 on Univision and Fandango, respectively. David Feiss directed all four shorts, which feature a computer-generated wraparound animation and a hand-drawn animation, provided by Six Point Harness.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" grossed $119.8 million in North America, and $154.5 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $274.3 million. Its budget was reported at $78 million, while Sony spent $48.2 million for the film's marketing in the United States, and $41.3 million in other countries.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: In North America, the film earned $9.3 million on its opening day, and opened to number one in its first weekend, with $34 million. In its second weekend, the film dropped to number two, grossing an additional $21 million. In its third weekend, the film dropped to number three, grossing $13.8 million. In its fourth weekend, the film dropped to number five, grossing $9.7 million.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 71%, based on 120 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's consensus reads: "While not as clever or inventive as its predecessor, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" compensates with enough dazzling visuals to keep younger viewers entertained." Metacritic, gave the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−", the same as the first film.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: Michael Rechtshaffen of "The Hollywood Reporter" gave the film a positive review, saying "While not as delightfully breezy as the original, an engaging voice cast and hordes of 'Foodimals' still manage to serve up a tasty sequel." Linda Barnard of the "Toronto Star" called it "fun, even if it is occasionally so chaotic it tramples the movie's flow like a herd of stampeding Buffaloafs." Michael Phillips of the "Chicago Tribune" thought it "better in every respect than the original "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". It's also more fun than all three "Ice Ages"; "Monsters University"; "Planes"; "Epic"; "Despicable Me 2"; and though I could go on, I won't." Jordan Hoffman of the "New York Daily News" gave the film four out of five stars, saying ""Cloudy 2" is loud, weird and chaotic—just as kids like it. ... sometimes it's good to have a sugary treat." Dave McGinn of "The Globe and Mail" felt it "promises more fun and laughs than it delivers, and this meal tastes like too many that have gone before it." Bill Goodykoontz of "The Arizona Republic" reviewed it as "the rare sequel that takes the spirit of the original and runs with it, coming up with something uniquely good in its own right."


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: In a lukewarm review, Tim Robey of "The Daily Telegraph" said "For all its properly surreal mayhem, this flick isn't quite as nimble or emotionally rounded as its predecessor." Sean O'Connell of "The Washington Post" wrote "Kids will chuckle, for sure. But parents who were pleasantly surprised by the original film's intelligence will miss Lord and Miller's guiding hands, as what once felt so funny now leaves a stale taste." Kyle Smith of the "New York Post" gave the film one out of four stars, saying "Whelk, I hope the makers of "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" earned a nice celery, but I'm afraid they made a hash of things. A hash seasoned with oy sauce." Rafer Guzman of "Newsday" thought it "relies on the usual noxious recipe for junky kid flicks: loud noise, pop music and poop jokes." Miriam Bale of "The New York Times" felt it was "sometimes so strange, colorful and wildly cute that it may end up becoming a "Yellow Submarine" for a new generation." Tom Russo of "The Boston Globe" gave the film two out of four stars, saying "It's another brightly rendered effort, but, as the title indicates, a lot of the real creativity seems to have been used up the first time around." Mike Clark of "USA Today" gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "There's not a surprise or moment of tension to be found here, but the film is all energy and color that makes the discomfort of 3-D glasses seem worth it."


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: Jocelyn Noveck of the Associated Press thought the film worked for its audience: "this is a kid movie, and KIDS LOVE PUNS. So they laugh at 'There's a leek in the boat.' And they laugh even more the second time." A. A. Dowd of "The A.V. Club" gave the film a C, saying "Like too many sequels, this second helping of Meatballs confuses bigger for better, piling on the action but misplacing much of the original's charm." David Hiltbrand of "The Philadelphia Inquirer" gave the film three out of four stars, saying "This scrumptious sequel follows the same recipe as the 2009 original." Peter Hartlaub of the "San Francisco Chronicle" called it "a humorous yet unfocused romp, so unwilling to settle on a single theme that hyperactivity medication should be handed out with the 3-D glasses." Matt Patches of "Film.com" wrote, "The 2009 original separated itself from the Pixar and Dreamworks competition with a joke-first approach. The sequel quadruples the recipe, with gags on top of gags on top of gags in a way only animation could achieve. Like a foodie "Jurassic Park" conjured up by Tex Avery, "Cloudy 2" is a sight to behold … as long as your brain hasn't turned to mush by the halfway point."


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: Amy Nicholson of "The Village Voice" compared the franchise to ""The Muppets" and "Pee Wee's Playhouse", kids' shows that ripen as their audience matures." Keith Staskiewicz of "Entertainment Weekly" called it "charming enough." Steve Davis of "The Austin Chronicle" gave the film two out of five stars, saying "For both kids and adults, "CWCM2" is little more than a vague memory as soon as it's over." Peter Debruge of "Variety" opined, "the pic's zany tone and manic pace are good for a quick-hit sugar high." Betsy Sharkey of the "Los Angeles Times" gave the film three and a half stars out of five, saying "Honestly, anyone who can pull off a running joke about leeks that does not make you gag, and is in fact a silly delight, deserves props." Bill Zwecker of the "Chicago Sun-Times" wrote, "Unlike so many sequels, this fun-filled 3D adventure is sure to entertain younger kids but also charm the adults".


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: A video game titled "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2", published by GameMill Entertainment, was released on September 24, 2013 for Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS. Its gameplay mechanic is similar to "Fruit Ninja".


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: A free mobile game titled "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2: Foodimal Frenzy" was developed by PlayFirst and released for both iOS and Android devices. The game is no longer available on App Stores.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: A downloadable app titled "Foodimal Funimal" was released for free by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on iOS and Android mobile devices on August 20, 2013.


title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

text: A third "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" film was announced but hasn't been confirmed or greenlighted by Sony Pictures Animation.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl (Strix varia), also known as the northern barred owl, striped owl or, more informally, hoot owl, is a North American large species of owl. A member of the true owl family, Strigidae, they belong to the genus "Strix", which is also the origin of the family's name under Linnaean taxonomy. Barred owls are largely native to eastern North America, but have expanded their range to the west coast of North America where they are considered invasive. Mature forests are their preferred habitat, but they can also acclimate to various gradients of open woodlands. Their diet consists mainly of small mammals, but this species is an opportunistic predator and is known to prey upon other small vertebrates such as birds, reptiles, and amphibians, as well as a variety of invertebrates.


title: Barred owl

text: Barred owls are brown to gray overall, with dark striping on the underside. Barred owls have typical nesting habits for a true owl, tending to raise a relatively small brood often in a tree hollow or snag (but sometimes also in other nesting sites) in forested areas. As a result of the barred owl's westward expansion, the species has begun to encroach on the range of the related and threatened spotted owl ("Strix occidentalis"). Evidence shows the assorted threats posed by the invading barred species are only increasing. In response, biologists have recommended culling operations to mitigate the negative effect of the barred on the spotted owl species.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl was first described by Philadelphia naturalist Benjamin Smith Barton in 1799. The species was named due to the varied directions the dusky markings take on their underside.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl is roughly intermediate in size between the larger Ural and the smaller tawny owl, but the structural features of its relatively short and decurved claws more so resemble the tawny species as does their dietary and habitat ecology. The spotted owl has been hypothesized to be within a superspecies with the barred owl. However, genetic testing reveals very early divergence (likely at or near their ancestor's entry to North America) between spotted and barred owls. A fossil species once called "Strix brea" from the early Pleistocene in California does little to resolve the ancestry of modern species, given its ambiguous relation to any living "Strix". The fossil species was larger (more similar in size and slenderness to the spotted owl, albeit with a slightly smaller skull and geographically isolated from that species) and longer-legged than either the spotted and barred owls, and is now considered to be in a separate genus, "Oraristrix". Pleistocene era fossils of probable barred owls are known from Florida, Tennessee and Ontario.


title: Barred owl

text: The subspecies of the barred owl vary mostly by region, with slight to moderate variation by coloring, size and extent of feathering on the toes. Although several have been described in the past, the barred owl may include only three subspecies, subsequent to the separation of the fulvous and cinereous forms.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl is considered somewhat subdued and drab in coloration compared to the sometimes rich coloring of other sympatric owls. Overall, this owl is greyish-brown or brown. The brownish color extends from the head to the back. Barred owls are scalloped with white bars on the mantle and the back, bearing as well some whitish spotting on the wing coverts. The underside has a pale creamy gray-brown base color (ranging into dirty white in the palest individuals) overlaid about the throat and upper chest with horizontal, slightly crescent-shaped barring (hence its common name), while the belly is boldly streaked in a vertical pattern. The streaking is usually blackish, dusky brown, or sometimes rufescent- (reddish-) brown. The head is fairly large (although not especially so for a species in "Strix") and rounded with no ear tufts. The facial disc is pale grayish-brown with darker yet subtle concentric lines. The bill is pale straw-yellow (occasionally showing a mild greenish tint) while the cere (a bare structure at the base of the beak) is "horn-colored". Its eyes are of a blackish-brown color, this being the only true owl of the eastern United States which has brown eyes; all others have yellow eyes. The eyes may appear intensely black in the field and, although large, are fairly closely set.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl has well-developed eye anatomy. As is typical of owls, their ocular anatomy is quite distinct from diurnal raptors especially in terms of their photoreceptor cells, as they have a very large number of rod cells in their quite sensitive retina. However, their pecten oculi is smaller relative to the size of their large ocular globe (other large owls are known to have similar pecten proportions). The vision in limited or almost no light during a laboratory study of a barred owl was found to be similar to that of other owls, including the long-eared owl ("Asio otus") and the barn owl ("Tyto alba"). The tarsi and toes are feathered up to the dark gray, black-tipped talons. These feathers are more sparse and bristled in the southern races. On individuals with bare sections of their toes, the toes are yellowish-gray in color. The flight feathers are barred with whitish buff and brown while the tail is brown or grayish-brown with 4–5 whitish bars. Young barred owls with their second set of down feathers are fluffy brownish-white, with indistinct darker barring on their head, back and mantle. They quickly become juveniles which resemble adults but have less distinct markings (especially about the head and neck), more buff coloring overall, often some remnant down, pinkish skin and a pale, blue-green cere. Also the tail at this age may have as many as seven bands (though sometimes have four like adults). Full adult plumage is obtained via molt after about a year as well as adult bare part characteristics. A study of tail molt in Washington showed that molt tends to occur relatively quickly, and that young individuals are difficult to age by state of molt alone. Southern barred owls tend to be darker and slightly smaller than northerly ones. Rare captive and wild barred owls with albinism have been described and are pure white but tend to retain their brown eyes.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl is a large species. The adult measures anywhere from in length while the wingspan may range from . The wing area (measured by square centimeter relative to the body mass) is quite intermediate among American owls, with the wing loading being lower than larger, but proportionately small-winged larger owls and even than some smaller owls. The barred has high wing-loading. Wing-loading is related to hunting technique, with higher wing-loading owls typically hunting from a perch, with only a brief flight necessary to obtain food, whilst lower wing-loading owls often hunt their prey from active flight. As is the case in most owls, the various wing feathers of barred owls are uncharacteristically soft and bear a comb-like shape, which in turn renders their flight functionally silent during their hunts. Like most birds of prey, the female is larger than the male barred owl, sometimes described as reverse sexual dimorphism (due to the fact that males average larger than females in most non-raptorial birds).


title: Barred owl

text: Among standard measurements, the wing chord of grown males varies from , with an average from three sources of , the tail may measure from , with an average of and the culmen from the cere may measure from , with an average of . Meanwhile, for the female, the wing chord may range from , averaging , the tail from , averaging and the culmen from the cere , averaging . Sexual dimorphism is particularly pronounced in barred owls by body mass as males within a population are sometimes a third lighter in weight. In the nominate subspecies ("S. v. varia"), average weights for males have been reported as (sample size 12), (sample size 20) and (sample size unknown) in three samples. The weight range for adult males is known to vary from . The considerably larger female of the nominate subspecies has been reported to average (sample size 24), (sample size 14) and (sample size unknown). Altogether, fully-grown female barred owls may weigh from .


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl is a powerful vocalist, with an array of calls that are considered "spectacular, loud and emphatic". Calls probably carry well over . Its usual call is a series of eight accented hoots "ok-ok-ok-ok-ok-buhooh", or the "typical two-phrase hoot" with a downward pitch at the end. The most common mnemonic device for remembering the call is "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all." Due to its best known call, the barred owl is sometimes colloquially referred to as "Old Eight-Hooter". At 80% of study posts in Virginia, barred owls responded to playback of this call. A further call is the "ascending type" or the "legato" call, a series of variable notes ending in "oo-aw" or "hoo-aah". At least two other variations on the legato/ascending call are known. 56% of studied owls in Virginia engaged in the ascending type call but 36% uttered only the closing notes. The isolated "hoo-aah", sometimes called the "inspection call", was the most common song type in north Florida and the most likely to heard during daylight. Several other calls, although some are not dissimilar variations on the main calls, are known. Some of these vary into cackles, hoots, caws and gurgles, at times described as "sudden demonic laughter", "cat-like screams" and "prolonged outbursts of cackling" and seem to be, among "Strix" species, an idiosyncrasy endemic to the barred owl.


title: Barred owl

text: Another call type is the "mumble", a grumbling, slurred and subtle "err-ERR-err", also an up-and-down "twitter" call at a high pitch. When agitated, this species will make a buzzy, rasping hiss about three times in three seconds, repeating every 10–30 seconds, and will click its beak together forcefully. Females and juveniles beg with high scratching "skreeechch" notes. The voice of the two sexes is similar, but the female has a higher-pitched voice with longer terminal notes. Of calls, 87 to 94% are identifiable to sex per one study. While calls are most common at night, the birds do call during the day as well, especially when provoked by human playback or imitation. They are more responsive than any hawk in the east to playback of calls of their own species. The barred owl is noisy in most seasons but peak vocalization times for barred owls tend to be between late January (in Florida) and early April (in Canada). Two seasonal peaks in vocalizations, one right before breeding and another after the young have dispersed, was detected in Connecticut, with peak vocalizations on nights with extensive cloud cover. Peak times for vocalizations are between 6:00pm and 6:00am, with the least frequent vocalizations around mid-afternoon.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl is distributed throughout most of the eastern United States, as well as much of southern Canada. They are found as far northeast as much of Nova Scotia (western two-thirds), New Brunswick and Sept-Îles, in much of Quebec, up to Lake Mistassini, and Ontario, up to Moosonee. The barred owl has been recorded as ended up as far north as central Labrador, though the species is not yet confirmed to breed in the province. The barred owl ranges in every part of the eastern United States continuously from northernmost Maine down throughout New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, much of the Midwest, the Southeast United States and all of Florida. They are found to as far west without substantial gaps to the limits of western Minnesota, easternmost South Dakota, the southeastern corner of Nebraska, the eastern half roughly of Kansas, most of Oklahoma and east Texas to as far west as Cisco and Burnet. Arguably and discontinuously from Texas, the species may range into central and southern Mexico but these populations are now often considered a separate species. These initial parts of the range in the eastern and central stretches would be considered as where the species is “native”. A wandering barred owl was once seen flying over Lake Michigan from the nearest land.


title: Barred owl

text: The remaining parts of the range are considered where the barred owl introduced itself in the last century or so. The historical lack of trees in the Great Plains presumably acted as a barrier to the range expansion, and recent increases in forests broke down this barrier. Increases in forest distribution along the Missouri River and its tributaries provided barred owls with sufficient foraging habitat, protection from the weather, and concealment from avian predators. This allowed barred owls to move westward, initially solely along other forested river corridors (e.g. the Yellowstone and Musselshell), but increases in forests in the northern Great Plains decades later would allow them to connect their eastern and western distributions across southern Canada. These increases in forests were caused by European-American settlers via wildfire suppression and ceasing the fires historically set by Native Americans, as well as by increased tree-planting.


title: Barred owl

text: In Canada, the barred owls with range expansion now range through southern Manitoba (excluding the southwest corner), a broad section of south-central Saskatchewan, and east-central and nearly all of western Alberta, now up to High Level. The barred owl has been present in Manitoba at least since 1886, Alberta since 1932 and Saskatchewan since 1948. However, a study in Alberta has shown that barred owls have likely been present for no less than 100 years. This owl species currently ranges through much of British Columbia, where they have been expanding their range since at least 1943, including Vancouver Island and as far north as Fort St. John. The barred owl has had a further northward expansion in the west to southeastern Alaska (Skagway to Ketchikan) and extreme southwestern Yukon. In the western United States they also range into northwestern Montana and northern Idaho. Barred owls were first verified in southwest Montana in 1909 and in northwest Montana in 1921 (although reports of the species may date back to the 1870s) but not in Idaho until 1968. Of unknown origin, Barred owls have been seen in Colorado since around the turn of the 20th century. They range broadly in eastern and western Washington (reached by 1965) and western Oregon (reached by 1972) (mostly along the forested corridors hugging the montane areas of the Cascade, Olympic and Blue ranges), and northern California (reached by 1976), now down to the Redwood National Forest, the Sierra Nevadas and outer San Francisco.


title: Barred owl

text: The habitat used by barred owl is largely old deciduous, mixed forests and, occasionally, coniferous forests. Old growth forests are preferred due to more extensive potential nest sites, less lower-branch density to impede hunting (and perhaps superior structural complexity to aid hunting), greater security from mobbing and perhaps greater thermoregulation. They are often found in bottomland hardwood forests in the largest swath of the native breeding range, often (particularly from Virginia south and west) with deep, dark stands of oak, gum and cypress. Secondary habitat, often used during foraging forays in the south, are often oak savanna or cabbage-palm areas. Regardless of area, some variety of water is frequently present, including riparian areas or swampy ground. Closed canopy forests were preferred in a study from Oklahoma (62.8% of habitat used), followed by fallow agricultural fields (10.6%), wetlands (8.1%) and open terrain (6.2%). The latter three were visited during hunting forays, and wetlands and open terrain areas were not used outside of the breeding season. Along the Atlantic coast area from New England to New Jersey, barred owls are often found in mixed swamps areas with cedars, seldom wandering to adjacent wetlands or farmland. The species may be at home in wooded areas in mountainous regions. More upland wooded habitats, often in mixed woods containing hemlock, alder, poplar, pine and oak, are typical in the northern part of the range. A study in northern New Jersey found at least 15 species of both conifer and deciduous trees were routinely used for differing purposes. In Michigan, barred owl habitat usually consists largely of some combination of hemlock and maple trees, with mixed forest usage being use disproportionately to its prevalence in the environment. Large oak stands were preferred in Minnesota, a bit ahead of mixed forest and far ahead of white cedar swamps and other habitat types, which were either too dense, too open or had too few attractive nesting sites.


title: Barred owl

text: Barred owls are not confined to extensive forest, also dwelling extensively in semi-open wooded areas, locally in large parks with mature trees, and in forest adjacent regions recently logged. Recent studies show suburban neighborhoods can be ideal habitat for barred owls, and the species may be considered a local synanthrope. Using transmitters, scientists found that some regional populations, such as in Charlotte, North Carolina, increased faster in the suburban settings than in old growth forest. A factor of this suburban success may be easily accessible rodent prey in such settings. However, for breeding and roosting needs, this species needs at least some large trees and can be locally absent in some urban areas for this reason. The increased offspring offset the death rate due to impacts from cars, other types of collisions and disease. Similarly, in Piedmont, South Carolina, productivity of the owls was higher in suburban areas and they comprised 41% of the territories of the local owls but various sorts of anthropogenic mortality were seemingly higher. In suburban areas of Ohio, 41.4% of barred owl range was forested, 29.8% was low-density residential areas and less than 15% was pasture. On the other hand, studies from the Northeastern United States, such as in New Jersey, found barred owls breeding mainly in plots of old-growth woodlands, and rarely successfully breeding in peri-urban areas, in part because of competitive and predatory displacement by great horned owls. Furthermore, a study in North Carolina showed most barred owls appear to favor areas with at least of woods but did not seem to be affected by the presence of roadways.


title: Barred owl

text: In the Pacific Northwest, they can be quite adaptive to secondary forests. On the other hand, in Ontario where the barred owl is native, secondary forest seemed to be largely avoided per a study. In the recent western part of the range, barred owls often dwell in mixed wood areas, often where there are lowland stands of balsam poplar, trembling aspen and white spruce, occasionally but not commonly in pure conifer boreal stands. Barred owls in California preferred stands of red alder. More so confined to inland areas, as in eastern Washington, Idaho, Manitoba and Montana, they prefer Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, paper birch, burr oak and western larch. In north-central Alberta, the use of old growth forest was far more prevalent than its occurrence in the wild. In the Cascades Range of Washington, barred owls usually dwell in areas with more grand firs, taller and more diverse tree heights, more enclosed canopies, higher numbers of trees per acre and less ground cover. In Saskatchewan, barred owls preferred areas with a minimum of 66% forest cover.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl, like most owls, is largely adapted to nocturnality. Between 5:00am and 8:00 pm, juvenile barred owls were recorded to sleep an average of 28% of each hour. Peak times in Minnesota were found to be right after sunset and just before dawn. Nonetheless, they are not as fully nocturnal as many owls and rank around 6th amongst 19 regular North American owl species for the regularity of their activity outside of nightfall, especially in particular circumstances such as when a rival or a human impersonator is emitting barred owls calls or whilst hunting. Often daytime activity tends to be early in the morning or around dusk but potentially at any time (overcast days being preferred). This species often spends the daytime hidden away in dense foliage of a tree, often at minimum above the ground, but sometimes also roosts in branch close to a broad trunk or in a natural tree hollow. Roost tree heights in Minnesota was typically while, in Illinois, they were up to . Recently fledged owls sometimes roost in tall grass, usually after falling from the nest tree.


title: Barred owl

text: Roost site selection may be partially dictated by thermoregulation, as in spotted owls, with shadier roosts likely to mitigate heat stress. They seldom rely on camouflage, instead often flying at the least disturbance and not allowing close approaches, making them potentially difficult to observe. Yet, on the other hand, they can be surprisingly tame and seemingly curious of people in the wild; further they are considered "as mild and engaging" as a predator can be. Barred owls are regularly subject to mobbing by small birds, from several small passerines to corvids and woodpeckers, and mammals when discovered by them during the daytime, and such situations may lead to them being attacked by diurnal birds of prey. There are some records of barred owls engaging in allopreening, presumably between pairs, with each other in the wild. They are skilled and silent fliers and frequently use routine forest flyways with open understory and low branch densities.


title: Barred owl

text: Like most species of owl in the "Strix" genus, the barred owl tends to be highly territorial regardless of the time of year. The territories are claimed by singing from different perches, often near the perimeter of its perceived home range. The boundaries are almost always well-maintained by barred owls and are generally stable from year to year and even generation to generation. Territory sizes have been determined via radio telemetry. The average territory size of 13 in Minnesota was , of 7 in Michigan it was and of 10 in Wisconsin was . Another Minnesota study found pairs to occupy a mean of about in mixed hardwood-conifer woods. Pairs in an Oklahoma study were reportedly found every . The mean territory size from 10 studies were estimated from throughout the range. In this study, the breeding season mean area was calculated at in males and in females; whereas the means in nonbreeding season were in males and in females. Overall, the annual mean home range for males was and for females was . The breeding range's mean home size in Washington was , while it was in the non-breeding season.


title: Barred owl

text: The ranges of pairs overlaps in the breeding season, at 87–95% range overlap, but decreases down to 45% after hatching. In a Florida study of barred owls, territorial responses, including several duets, by a pair were found to be provoked by researchers playing calls of both "stranger" owls and recordings of owls that were neighbors to the pair being tested. The aggressive response even to known neighbors in this study is unusual. In tawny owls in a study from Italy, for instance, they responded mildly or not at all to the calls of neighboring tawny owls known to them but with great aggression to the calls of "stranger" owls. Due to its rather stolidly territorial nature, the barred owl is not normally a migratory species. Claims in the past of "rather impressive" flights in New England in the past were lacking in verifiable details. Of 158 banded recoveries in the northern part of the range, movements during winter were found to cover no further than , while all those recovered in Saskatchewan and Alberta scarcely moved at all. There is little to no evidence of nomadic behavior as has been recorded in several other owls in the north.


title: Barred owl

text: Barred owls are opportunistic predators of the woodlands. Like the tawny owl, the barred owl usually hunts from a perch. During hunting efforts, they glide briefly from perch to perch until prey is detected. The barred owl has incredibly large eyes that capture as much light as possible, allowing for better night vision. Attacks may be carried out merely away from the prey due to the effectiveness of the silencing wing feathers. The barred owl, especially compared to the predominantly arboreal prey of the spotted owl, usually prefers to target small animals that are terrestrial. However, barred owls will also flush and capture night-roosting birds, and capture bats on the wing as well. Daytime hunting has been reported several times, although peak hunting time is typically shortly after sunset. Although they usually hunt within woodlands, they not infrequently hunt in open terrain, more typical of the hunting areas of a bird like the long-eared owl. Cases of snow-plunging have been verified for barred owls, allowing them to capture prey like voles in subnivean zones that they use as hidden snow tunnels during winter, a hunting method once thought particular to great grey owls. While hunting squirrels in the Foothill Model Forest of Alberta, barred owls were seen to make several passes before succeeding. Hunting on the ground is usually done to obtain foods such as invertebrates or amphibians. These owls may wade into water to capture fish and may do an unusual amount of aquatic, for any "Strix" species or North American owl, foraging via wading into shallows.


title: Barred owl

text: Due to its relatively modest foot size, it does not usually take particularly large prey. However, owls in general have proportionately larger feet and more powerful grips than similarly sized diurnal raptors, while the physiology of the daytime raptors differs. While the mechanism of the killing feet overlap, owls kill mainly with constriction and sacrifice velocity with their physiology while diurnal raptors have higher velocity and kill mainly by trauma inflicted by their enlarged talons. A majority of prey of barred owls is eaten outright but, with large prey, the barred owl may eat the head first and then return to consume the remainder of the body. Cases of owls of any variety scavenging on carrion are generally rare, but at least three instances of carrion-feeding by barred owls have been observed, more recently eating deer and squirrel roadkills on a remote camera in North Carolina. The pellet of the barred owl averages about in diameter and in length.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl has been known to consume a diversity of animals from different taxonomic classes. Primarily, these owls live off of small mammals. Other vertebrates are rarely neglected though, especially birds and amphibians, but also occasionally reptiles and fish. For an owl its size, the barred owl also consumes a large amount of arthropods and other invertebrates. One study from a wide swath of the range found that among 2234 accrued prey items, 76% were mammals, 15.8% were invertebrates, 5.8% were birds and 2.5% were other vertebrates. In four other studies from different parts of the distribution, the mean balance of mammals in diet was around 64.9%, birds at around 13.4%, invertebrates at around 11.4% and different classes of vertebrates (mostly amphibians) at around 10.3%. A compilation study that included a total of 7077 prey items using all methodologies, 71.9% were mammals, 9.5% were birds, 0.6% reptiles, 6% amphibians, 1.89% fish, 1% earthworms, 0.2% gastropods, 6.5% insects and 2.4% crayfish. Barred owls tend to focus on fairly small-sized prey, although are capable of attacking larger than usual prey in infrequent cases. The mean size of prey taken is seldom estimated in the barred owls’ eastern range, although one study estimated mean size of prey in the general east was . Many more studies have estimated mean prey masses in westerly areas of sympatry with spotted owls to understand how their diets may conflict. Different studies from the west (mainly Washington and Oregon) have variously estimated the mean prey sizes for barred owls at , , , and .


title: Barred owl

text: The predominant small mammals available in forest and woodland edges are generally small rodents, so the barred owl, like other "Strix" owls, most often relies on rodents as the primary type of food. Preferred rodents to be taken are voles, mice of the genus "Peromyscus" and assorted rats, including non-native "Rattus" species as well as unrelated native types like cotton rats, rice rats and woodrats. These all share with barred owls a penchant for nocturnality and crepuscular habits (although many voles are more correctly considered cathemeral) While during other seasons, the diet of barred owls can be fairly diverse, the winter diet may be almost wholly rodents. This was the case in winter in Montana, where 97.6% of 1153 prey items were montane voles or meadow voles, with a possible slight mixture of other voles. The diet of barred owls in a much smaller study near Urbana, Illinois during winter was less homogeneous but still led by rodents, especially the meadow vole (32.3%) and white-footed mouse (23.5%). A winter food study in Essex County, New Jersey found that among 118 prey items, meadow voles comprised a great majority of the prey, at 91.5% of the balance.


title: Barred owl

text: An unusual lack of diversity in barred owl pellets was found in several years of possibly aseasonal study in Ann Arbor, Michigan where of 777 prey items, 83.3% were meadow voles. At Edwin S. George Preserve near the University of Michigan, the summer diet was also heavily rodent based, as among 146 prey items 37.9% were white-footed mice, 22.6% were southern bog lemming and 6.84% were meadow voles. In a somewhat larger Michigan study, the North American deermouse, lead the prey at 34.9% of 321 prey items. In Minnesota, the barred owl was counted as one of the leading causes of mortality of prairie voles. Studies of the barred owl diet in 6 urban metropolitan areas of British Columbia found that the diet was dominated by young rats of the invasive "Rattus" genus, comprising 52.8% of 688 prey items, well ahead of native Townsend's voles, which were secondary at 19.2% of the diet. The average weight rats taken by owls were clearly juveniles, estimated to average , although several could be anywhere from infant rat to adult rat sizes, i.e. about . The mean size of black rats taken in Oregon was , indicating that here large adults of this species were selected. Beyond the typical more meadow-dwelling voles and woodland edge-dwelling native mice, larger and more forest dwelling rodents of different varieties can be of variable import. Numerous woodrat species may be taken and may provide a hearty meal to a barred owl, at a mean body mass when taken (in Oregon) of for unidentified species.


title: Barred owl

text: In different areas, barred owls may regularly hunt the diverse members of the squirrel family, despite their general penchant for diurnality. Smaller squirrel varieties are usually focused on when hunted as supplement prey, such as chipmunks, averaging about among the different species they prey upon, and pine squirrels, which average about twice as large as chipmunks. Usually juvenile specimens are focused on when taking the larger "Sciurus" tree squirrels, at least in summer, but presumably a mixture of yearling and adult "Sciurus" will be taken during winter. The mean weight of western gray squirrels taken during the breeding season in Oregon was , against a mean adult weight of around . The issue of temporal activities is less pertinent to the predator of flying squirrels, which are nocturnal. All studies of the diet of barred owls in Pacific Northwest show the importance of the northern flying squirrel to their diet. This flying squirrel was found to comprise from about 10.9% to 20% of the diet of barred owls (either as the most or second most important prey species) and, with a mean weight of when taken, they comprised up to 25.6% of the food biomass for this owl species. In Green Ridge State Forest in Maryland, although not numerically the most important prey family compared to unidentified cricetids and shrews, the southern flying squirrel was the most often identified prey species for barred owls. Beyond the aforementioned rodent prey, more infrequently rodent prey can including various other crecetid rodents, pocket gophers, mountain beavers (average weight when taken of up to ) and jumping mice. The largest known rodent prey of barred owls are adult muskrat, which were estimated to weigh when taken.


title: Barred owl

text: The other primary mammalian prey types are the shrews and the moles. At least a dozen species of shrew and most North American species of mole are known as prey of the barred owl. 12.8% of 7077 total prey items from across the range were shrews or moles. A small sample of prey in Michigan was led by the very small masked shrew, which weighs around , at 25% of 34 prey items. A much larger shrew, the northern short-tailed shrew at around , was the leading prey in Glenwood, Minnesota at 35.8% of 81 prey items. This prey species also is taken quite regularly in several other parts of the range, as well as a closely-related species. Assorted other shrew species and the smallest of the world's moles, the American shrew mole are regular supplement prey elsewhere, especially in the Pacific Northwest. The most frequently taken single prey species through the Pacific Northwest, at 11.8% of 4299 total prey items of barred owls, was the coast mole. Usually, moles are secondary if relatively hearty prey elsewhere in the range. Secondary prey that is heartier still can include several species of cottontail rabbits 3.2% of 7077 prey items from across the range for barred owls were rabbits or hares. As for the often sympatric eastern cottontail. Even larger prey (perhaps the largest verifiable prey of all for barred owls) is the regularly taken snowshoe hare. The mean weights of these hares taken by barred owls in the Pacific Northwest was estimated at but the largest hare specimens killed by the barred owls were estimated to weigh about .


title: Barred owl

text: Bats are infrequently reported as prey in most of the range but an unusually close association was detected in Valdosta, Georgia, where most of the prey, 65% of pellet contents and 37 total bats, were southeastern myotis. Barred owls are also known predators of both eastern spotted and western spotted skunks, the latter estimated to weigh when taken. Much larger mammals are sometimes recorded in the foods of barred owls, but there are few details known about the age, condition or circumstances (i.e. they may have been consumed as carrion or, perhaps more likely, young or infirm specimens were taken). Some such prey species recorded have included the Virginia opossum, the North American porcupine, the striped skunk and the domestic cat. Adults of all these species are known to count amongst the prey of great horned owls which are better suited than barred owls to take particularly large prey given its more robust morphology.


title: Barred owl

text: Throughout the barred owl's range, other birds are taken as prey, although avian species make up a much smaller proportion of their diets than mammals. The maximum known representation of bird prey in a barred owl food study was 25.1% in Alberta, meaning that they augment their diet less heavily with bird prey than their near equivalent in Europe, the tawny owl. No specific variety of bird is subject to the most frequent predation by barred owls and birds are the most diverse class in these owl's prey spectrum, with more than 100 species of bird known to be hunted. Conspicuous nesting sites of barn swallow and purple martin on manmade structures and objects were revealed via video-monitoring to suffer heavy predation by barred owls. In the case of the barn swallows, all ages of swallow as well as possibly eggs were eaten. 65 of 95 monitoring barn swallow nests were consumed by owls over a 3-year period. The muddy bank nests of cliff swallows are also vulnerable to barred owls, while other swallow species are known to be opportunistically taken.


title: Barred owl

text: In more enclosed wooded areas, radio-tagging and video-monitoring of various passerines nests as well as examinations of owl pellets has shed light on the relationship of barred owls with these potential prey resources. Not only was the barred owl found to be a surprisingly routine predator at woodland passerine nests, but that an unexpected bulk of the acts of predation in studies from Missouri and Illinois were carried out during the daytime. Many different forest bird species (most frequently acadian flycatchers and indigo buntings in Missouri and Illinois) were hunted. These studies indicated that the barred owl may snatch passerines of any age, but recent fledglings are taken preferentially due to their more conspicuous behavior and limited ability to fly away. In Minnesota, about 62% of studied hermit thrush and ovenbird fledglings were taken per one study, with all thrush that nested in the radius of the barred owl's nests failing to produce any young. A similarly high rate of local determent by barred owls has been found for other woodland thrushes like the veery, wood thrush and varied thrush, with the additional finding that pre-dawn singing by certain thrushes, when their escape abilities are dulled by the dim light, leaves them vulnerable to barred owl ambushes. Forest birds seem to recognize the barred owl as a threat, with mobbing behavior evoked easily by playing recordings of their calls in the daytime.


title: Barred owl

text: A wide diversity of bird prey may be occasionally hunted by barred owls in different circumstances. Smaller or mid-sized bird prey species known have including different species, though usually a relatively low species diversity and in low numbers, beyond swallows and thrushes of tyrant flycatchers, vireos, chickadees, wrens, mimids, tanagers, other cardinalids and finches. Somewhat higher diversity of species are known from the sparrow and warbler families. Birds down to the size of the calliope hummingbird, North America's smallest hummingbird at , may be taken by barred owls. At the opposite end of passerine prey for barred owls, this species will sometimes take all ages of the American crow, from very young nestlings to adults. Numerous non-passerine birds are also taken, though seldom in great numbers and of low known species diversity. One exceptional family is the woodpeckers, which are probably so widely taken because of their generally overlapping habitat preferences with those of barred owls. Several species of woodpecker are preyed upon almost throughout the range, including at least a half dozen in Oregon alone, from the smallest North American species, the downy woodpecker, to the largest, the pileated woodpecker. Other small-to-medium-sized bird species known as prey for barred owls are: mountain quail, grey partridge, rock dove, band-tailed pigeon, mourning dove, purple gallinule, killdeer, American woodcock, least tern, snowy egret, cattle egret and belted kingfisher. Although they take many chicks of gamebirds, adults of these species are vulnerable as well. In many areas, ruffed grouse are not infrequently taken, comprising up to nearly 6% of prey items in Alberta. In Oregon, the weights estimated for ruffed grouse taken by barred owls varied enormously, from small chicks estimated at , to adults weighing about . Broader study in the Pacific Northwest indicated that adult ruffed grouse were mainly taken. Barred owls are also known to take adult spruce grouse of about the same size as the ruffed grouse, as well as much larger species including the common pheasant and the sooty grouse, the latter estimated to average when taken. Barred owls are also known to prey on the young of other, larger birds, such as the American white ibis and wild turkey.


title: Barred owl

text: Barred owl predation on reptiles is widely reported but they seldom take large numbers in any given area. Most reported instances of such captures are of various small lizards, often of skinks in the genus "Plestiodon," most often from the Midwest to the western parts of the range. Several reported instances of barred owls hunting snakes are also known, but they are perhaps even more seldom preyed upon than lizards. More than a half dozen snake species are known to be captured, several of which are colubrids, which are mostly harmless. The estimated body mass of black racer taken in Oregon was only , well under their mean mature size. However, consumption or predation on dangerous pit vipers, such as timber rattlesnakes and copperheads, by barred owls has been reported, although it is not known whether these are taken as adults. Rarer still is barred owl predation on turtles. Predation by this species was reported upon a very young river cooter, which had a carapace width of only , as well as on juvenile gopher tortoise and apparently diamondback terrapin. Much more characteristic than any reptilian prey are amphibians, with various types of frogs, salamanders and similar species reported in this owl's foods. Amphibians were more considerably more popular in the diet in western part of range, comprising 10.5% of known studies against 4.4% in the east. In total, well over 20 amphibian species have been identified in the foods of barred owls and amphibians collectively can make up to 24.5% of the local diet (as was reported in Alberta). While salamanders and newts are probably often visually discerned while scanning the forest floor, many frogs are probably hunted down by sound during their crepuscular choruses.


title: Barred owl

text: Amphibians are taken almost entirely during the breeding season, as they become unavailable to barred owls during the winter months. Most reported amphibian prey in Oregon were unidentified "medium-sized salamanders". A diversity of frog sizes may be taken, varying potentially in size from spring peepers, which average around , to American bullfrogs, which average around in mature bullfrogs . A notable act of successful predation was carried out by a barred owl on a rough-skinned newt, which contains toxins that are often deadly to predators. Apparently, the owl was able to survive after consuming the newt. The rarest variety of vertebrate prey for barred owls is fish. However, there are several accrued accounts of fishing by these owls, including older accounts of barred owls coming to ice holes made by human fishermen and more recent accounts of possibly routine fishing by the owls on the St. Johns River in Florida, in the latter case utilizing a fishing dock as a hunting perch. At least five species of fish have been identified in the foods of barred owls, including fairly large fish like brown bullheads and largemouth bass.


title: Barred owl

text: The balance of assorted invertebrates in the diet of barred owls can be quite high. Although many of those found in pellets are unidentified to species, nearly 40 species of invertebrates have been found in their foods. Broad studies indicate arthropods (including millipedes and spiders but predominantly insects) in general comprise up to about 16% of the barred owl's foods. When hunting insects, barred owls most often prefer ground-based beetles. In Oregon, 11.7% of the diet was assorted beetles (14 species were identified), being somewhat more numerous among 3686 prey items than other non-rodent prey orders. However, some insects prey such as luna moth, eastern tiger swallowtail and green darner are presumably hawked on the wing around dawn and dusk. It is known that barred owls will sometimes come hunt near manmade light sources and campfires, flying out from the perch to quickly capture flying insects that were attracted to them. Of 123 prey items found in southern Manitoba, flying Sphinx moths and flightless scarab beetles each comprised 7% (most of the remaining balance being unidentified mammals and birds). Crayfish of at least four identified species are another widely taken type of invertebrate, presumably snatched up by barred owls from shallow waterways. Crayfish seem to be exclusively taken in the east and Midwest, areas where they comprised 3.4% of all known food studies, and none at all were recorded in the western part of the range. In Missouri, annually up to 31.1% (though, in some years, 0%) of the diet was comprised by crayfish. Barred owls occasionally feed on snails and slugs, the latter especially in the Pacific Northwest. Another snail, the Pacific sideband, was surprisingly often present in the foods in Oregon as at least 135 were taken. Beyond slugs, other "soft" invertebrates are sometimes hunted, especially earthworms. Earthworms were most prominent in the foods of barred owls in Nova Scotia, where 27.6% of 186 video-monitored prey deliveries in Nova Scotia were worms, the most regularly delivered of all prey types there.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl's range overlaps with multiple other predators of similar prey species. Due to the time period barred owls are active, the most interaction occurs with other owl species. Of the owls in North America, about three-quarters are reliant on similar small mammal prey, usually rodents, with a mixture of other prey genera as supplements. Other than its ecology where it today co-exists with spotted owls, however, there is some level of niche differentiation from a majority of sympatric owls. In the eastern forest biome, the barred owl is the only large owl species to dwell mainly in continuous forest areas. While many of the owls sympatric with barred owls over majority of their eastern and Midwestern range share a preference for hole-nesting, smaller hole-nesting owls usually prefer different habitats, such as the open country-dwelling barn owl and the screech owls, which usually in North America dwell at the interface of forest and open habitats. Both North American species in the "Aegolius" owl genus are forest-dwelling cavity nesters but are much smaller and are at entirely different trophic levels.


title: Barred owl

text: A singular diurnal raptor species that mirrors the barred owl at nearly all ecological levels is the red-shouldered hawk. Both species have similar distributions, habitat preferences and somewhat similar dietary habits and trophic level. They may considered as nearly nocturnal and diurnal ecological equivalents. In multiple parts of the range, including southwestern Ohio, North Carolina and northern Michigan, the paralleling habitat usage and nesting behavior of the barred owl and red-shouldered hawk has been noted. One of the few respects in which their habitat usage differs is that the barred owl is more adaptive to nesting in suburban areas if they have old growth trees that provide plentiful tree hollows. In contrast, red-shouldered hawks tend to avoid suburban areas whilst nesting, but may acclimate to these areas during the winter. Barred owls seldom alter their range throughout the year and remain more or less constrained to the stands they used during nesting. The red-shouldered hawk averages somewhat smaller and has a more limited diet than barred owls, but probably goes after dangerous prey such as snakes more regularly. Multiple occasions are recorded where the barred owl and red-shouldered hawk have nested in the same area, often within the same grove of trees, remarkably with little to no conflict. At least one nest was found including eggs from both species. When nesting near other hawks like red-tailed hawks and Cooper's hawks, the relationship tends to be much more contentious between hawk and owl, despite barred owls sometimes sharing space or using the old nests of these hawks. A wing-clapping display by a pair of barred owls was recorded during antagonistic encounters in Manitoba with a pair of broad-winged hawks. Wing-claps were previously not recorded in this species, and when recorded for other owl species were often for the purposes of courtship displays.


title: Barred owl

text: One predator that is a major source of conflict for the barred owl is the great horned owl. In every part of their range, barred owls are compelled to share space with the larger owls. There is habitat partitioning between the barred owl and great horned owl that allows them to often co-exist. Great horned owls prefer various more open habitats mixed with trees, often in rather upland areas, which differs from the habitats preferred by the barred owl. If a great horned owl moves into an area, barred owls appear to avoid said areas, based on radio telemetry data. In much of the east, habitat alteration and fragmentation tends to favor the great horned owl at the expense of the barred owl. Where more continuous forest is available, however, the great horned and barred owl can occur surprisingly close to one another. In one case, a barred owl was observed to roost only from a great horned owl. In general the reforestation at the northern sections of the Great Plains have, on the contrary, benefited barred owls (and may have been a part of allowing their westward expansion) and been perhaps slightly detrimental to the great horned owl. However, even where the habitat becomes less ideal, the great horned owl is unlikely to vacate an area, unlike the barred owl which can be entirely displaced if woods become too small and fragmented. Great horned owls and barred owls have similar diets, as both are wide-ranging, large and opportunistic owls. However, the great horned owl is larger in bulk, sometimes averaging nearly twice as heavy, with much heavier, larger feet and talons. The great horned owl is probably rather more powerful and accesses a wider variety of prey than barred owls, which additionally take considerably fewer prey species because they occur in more limited habitats and have a much smaller overall distribution. A study utilizing stable isotopes in Alberta appeared to confirm that the great horned owl preys on nearly twice as many prey species as do the barred owls of the area.


title: Barred owl

text: The great horned owl is indeed likely to be the greatest natural enemy of the barred owl. There are several accounts of the horned owl species preying on nestlings, fledglings and adults of the barred. Other than horned owls, predation of the barred owl seems to be fairly rare outside of the nestling age, both due to the owl's relatively large size and their nesting habits, most often in secluded tree hollows. One more virulent nest predator is likely to be raccoons ("Procyon lotor"), which can nearly decimate both tree hollow and stick nest locations of almost any kind of bird, especially in peri-urban areas where they largely exist without controlling predators. Both the American marten and the fisher are known to be nest predators of barred owls, in turn appearing to cause the owls to switch nest sites. Other birds of prey may be an occasional threat to barred owls. Northern goshawks have reportedly killed both young and adult barred owls. One modern account mentions predation by a goshawk on a nestling barred owl (i.e. weight about ). A well-known instance of a goshawk attack on an adult barred owl concluded with the owl and goshawk killing one another. There are some very rare, singular cases of predation on barred owls (age unknown) by red-tailed hawks, which nonetheless generally appears to be a less menacing co-inhabitant than the goshawk. More surprisingly, a Cooper's hawk, a smaller species of raptor, was observed to apparently prey upon a full-grown barred owl in British Columbia. An American alligator was reported to have preyed on a barred owl in at least one instance.


title: Barred owl

text: On the other hand, the barred owl is a significant predator of smaller raptor species as well. Most smaller owls that co-exist with barred owls are at occasional risk of predation. A particular cause of concern in intraguild predations by the barred has been their encroachment into the areas inhabited by western screech owl ("Megascops kennicotti"). Several instances of predation have been noted on the screech owls and the recent, unprecedented presence of the barred owls appears to have a correlation with the decline of the western screech owl in British Columbia and in Bainbridge Island, Washington. In one instance, a biologist who called in an eastern screech owl ("Megascops asio") in Ohio observed it to be immediately captured and consumed by a barred owl. The barred owl is a serious predator of eastern screech owls, but is less deadly to them in general than the great horned owl. Various additional owl species known to be preyed upon by barred owls including the flammulated owl ("Psiloscops flammeolus"), northern pygmy owl ("Glaucidium gnoma"), northern saw-whet owl ("Aegolius acadius") and long-eared owl ("Asio otus"). The interspecific owl trophic chain was perhaps most conspicuous in a case where a barred owl that was shot in New England was found to have a long-eared owl inside its stomach which in turn had an eastern screech-owl in its own stomach. More unexpectedly, barred owls may even prey on other "Strix" species. As many as four records of circumstantial but likely predation by barred owls on spotted owls have been reported. A likely event of predation by a barred owl on an adult great grey owl was observed. The authors hypothesized that the victim may have been a smaller male great grey owl (which can be about the same body mass as a large female barred) but this is the only known instance to date of a great gray owl being killed by another species of "Strix" owl. Barred owls have been known to take adults (or full-grown juveniles) of diurnal raptors as well, including snail kites, Cooper's hawks, sharp-shinned hawks and possibly swallow-tailed kites.


title: Barred owl

text: The barred owl's usual preferred a nest site is usually the hollow trunk of a large tree or the broken-off snag from a large tree branch. Hollows or snags may be made by any variety of sources, often due to a disease or storm, with hollows and snags large enough to accommodate these birds usually only occurring in an old-growth tree. Typically, nest sites are in rather deep and dark wooded areas, often with a well-developed understory but somewhat sparse lower branches, and may be fairly close to water. Average nest heights are between above the ground. In 25 studies from throughout the range, mean nest tree height was (lowest mean from Florida where it was ; the highest from Oregon where it was ), mean nest tree diameter was (thinnest mean in Saskatchewan at ; thickest in Washington at ), while the mean height of the tree cavity used from these studies was .


title: Barred owl

text: A big beech with a rotting core, encompassing a large cavity reached through a deep crevice, is an ideal nest site. The most widely reported nesting trees in breeding cards were elms (21%) and beeches (15%), followed by oaks, hickories, yellow birches, sycamores, aspens, maples and poplars. In Washington, the most often used nest trees were balsam poplar, Douglas fir and grand fir. Balsam poplar comprised 62% of known nest sites in Manitoba as well. It was found in Maryland that snags used were significantly higher than the average height of miscellaneous snags available in environment. The mean size of tree holes the owls used in Maryland was in inside diameter and in depth. These were slightly larger than the average from Michigan, which hollow used averaged in mean diameter and in mean depth. Record depth tree cavities used by barred owls was around deep from the opening on the tree. One study of cavity nesting birds in Ontario found that the barred owl preferred to nest in the most massive trees of any cavity-nester in the study area. In continuous bottomland forest, nests are often about every . Territory lines often remain the same even after the original owls are replaced entirely by a new pair. It was thought in Nova Scotia that some pairs may prospect a potential nest site as much as year before they use it. Despite usually using sickly or dying trees, some nests have found in partially hollow but still living oaks.


title: Barred owl

text: Usually in areas with few or no natural tree hollows, often within younger secondary forests or overharvested areas, this species will uses other birds’ nests and occasionally also the dreys of squirrels. Evidence shows that the preference of barred owls for hollows and snags over bird nests is due to their earlier nest type having a more secure microclimate with better shelter (additionally, owl nests in hollows generally tend to be somewhat less vulnerable to predation than those of owls using old bird nests). Nest built by other birds that are most widely used are probably red-shouldered hawk and Cooper's hawks, while those of red-tailed hawks, usually being in more open areas, are used secondarily outside of a local basis. In the south, nests have been found between fronds of palmetto palm leaves, in holes of broken palm stems and rotten snags of the palms. One unconventional nest was on the ground at the base of a lookout tower in Everglades National Park. Another was on the roof of a shed in Saskatchewan. Yet another was in an earthen bank in Texas. Locally, barred owls can take to nest boxes but, in general, barred owls take to these less readily than their cousin "Strix" owls in Europe. Suitable nesting hollows may be used quite often in subsequent years, with records of a single hollow seeing up to 25 years of barred owl use (presumably not by the same owls however). Other long-used nests were one reused in New England for 10 years by the same pair until it rotted out and while a nest box in Nova Scotia was reused 10 times over 16 years. Over 6 years in Minnesota, 14 nest boxes were reused; 7 were used once, 6 were twice and one was used three times. Like all owls, barred owls never construct their owl nest but they may press or dig slightly if soil is present or remove the top leaves from a squirrel drey.