How Does It Obtain Nutrients?

   Barred Owls are active hunters. Since they are nocturnal animals, they use their many senses to find prey. A combination of sight, smell, hearing, and silent flight helps the owl in predation. Barred Owls hunt from perches, for prey that is mainly stationary. This makes the capture of prey easier for the owl.            
        The Barred Owl is a carnivore. It lives on a diet of mostly mammals, along with some reptiles and amphibians. Barred owls are also know to hunt smaller spotted and screech owls. When feeding on its prey, the owls tend to eat most of the animal. While eating the entire animal is an efficient way to obtain nutrients, this does cause some problems for digestion. A unique quality that owls have are the pellets that they produce after consuming food. These pellets are the remains from their food that the stomach was unable to digest. The pellets are generally composed of bones and hair from the animals eaten.              
     Once a Barred Owl consumes its food, nutrients and water are dispersed throughout the body via the digestive system. The Barred Owl has a complete digestive system and since it is a carnivore it has a shorter digestive tract than herbivores. It then stores food inside its body.   
    The Barred Owl has a closed circulatory system which helps it circulate the blood more efficiently. Having a closed circulatory system allows the owl’s blood to maintain a high rate of flow. The owl’s circulatory system is a complex system. It has two circuits and a four chambered heart. The barred owl obtains its nutrients in its habitat.