Barred Owl Calls

Barred owls are large brown owls with white stripes which are common in Iowa. This audio contains various calls during mating season. Their calls are often heard at dusk and through the night due to owl nocturnal behavior.

Possible Guiding, Compelling and/or Anchoring Questions

• Is this just one owl or more? Do you think they are the same kind of owl? Do you think they are male or female?
• What do you think the different sounds might mean? 
• What do you think makes owls successful or unsuccessful in finding a mate? Do you think they all find mates? 
• What other animal communications are you familiar with and what role do you think they serve? 
• What other forms of communication do animals use besides vocalizing?

Classroom Suggestions

• Students can brainstorm the reasons for the different sounds of owls. 
• Students could use the resources below to investigate whether all owls exhibit the same behaviors and whether similar behaviors exist in other animals. Groups could choose or be assigned certain animals to research and report on behaviors. 
• The Mating/Animal Communication game in the resources below is a great kinesthetic activity for showing that communication and mating behaviors can take a wide variety of forms. This game should help students to generalize the idea that a variety of behaviors affect the possibility of reproduction.

Related Resources

• Iowa DNR Owl Identification Guide: Describes Iowa’s nine different species of owls and includes information on diet, habitat, calls and nesting behaviors.
• NGSS at NSTA: Reproduction: Students explore the pros and cons of asexual and sexual reproduction.
• Let’s Play That Again (PDF) - Mating/Animal Communication Game: The second activity assigns different characteristics to students (smell, vocalization, behaviors or visual cues) and they are tasked with finding their correct mate.