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The Barred
Owl is a common Owl in Quebec, most famous for its distinctive nighttime
song "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?" The Barred Owl nests
in natural cavities found in mature woodlands, and is well adapted to
hunting small mammals such as the deer mouse. One adaptation is that its
eyes are 100 times more sensitive than the human eye. As a result, this
species can effectively hunt in what we would consider to be total darkness.
Not only does this species have incredible power of sight, but it can
also capture prey in the total dark based on sound alone. How is this
done? The ears of the Barred Owl are "staggered" on its head. Thus, sound
strikes each ear differently, and the Barred Owl uses these differences
to accurately locate the position of its prey. This feature is crucial
to survival of the Barred Owl in winter, when the Barred Owl must capture
small mammals moving underneath a snow cover.
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