Full Issue

Of the three subspecies of Barred Owl (Strix uaria) in North America, two occur in Tennessee (A.O.U.1957).The Florida subspecies (S.V. georgim) ranges across the deep south from east Texas to coastal North Carolina, as well as central Arkansas and west Tennessee.OnIy Shelby, Fayette, Hardeman, Tipton, and Haywood counties in southwest Tennessee seem to be included in the range of this subspecies (Karalus and Eckert 19731, although this list may be incomplete.The northern subspecies (S.V. varin) is much more widespread, occurring from Oklahoma, northern Arkansas, Tennessee, northern Georgia, and Virginia northward through the northern and eastern U.S. and across southern Canada.It seems to occur in Lake, Obion, and Weakley counties of northwest Tennessee (op.cif.), as well as most of middle and east Tennessee.A s coordinator of the Raptor Rehabilitation Program at the Memphis Zoo and Aquarium, I see a n average of about 30 inpred or orphaned Barred Owls each year; but since 7993, only three S.V. varia have been brought in to the RRI?One was from Reelfoot Lake State Park in Lake County, but the other two were found further south in Xpton and Shelby counties.The Shelby County bird was found in late November.I have read about the differences in appearance of these two subspecies, but had little chance to study them until I recently viewed a large collection of skins at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.There were well over 50 skins of each subspecies available.It would seem that gwrgica is a little darker than varia.However, the best way to separate the two is by the feathering of the toes.On wrin the feathering goes almost to the base of the talons, while the toes of georgica are almost totally naked (Figure 1).This difference would be difficult to see in the field except at close range in good light.The collection of varia at the Field Museum contained four birds taken in the Mid-South area, including an individual from Lake County, Tennessee.The others were from Arkansas (two) and Georgia during the winter.It may be that, while Barred Owls are usually quite sedentary, there is some migration during the winter, particularly among northern b~rds.Clearly the subspecific distribution of this owl in Tennessee needs further study. VOL.

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.