Females are responsible for all incubating and brooding while males are responsible for hunting and providing food. Females may respond or the pair may sing strange sounding duets referred to as caterwauling. Its diet includes small terrestrial mammals, birds, lizards, and snakes, but also fish, crayfish, and crabs of the shoreline aquatic habitat. The rich baritone hooting of the Barred Owl is a characteristic sound in southern swamps, where members of a pair often will call back and forth to each other. By summer, breeding season has passed. Barred Owls know where their personal boundaries lie and they show this to others through a physical expression, radiating out self-respect. This scary performance is called “caterwauling.” This is a strong symbol of protection, not a jail. Barred Owls are cavity nesters and will nest in naturally formed nest cavities or in man- made nest boxes. Who cooks for you-all?” This call carries well through the woods and is fairly easy to imitate. In May and June, he continues to hoot, though less frequently. Barred Owls are very territorial, and they don't migrate. Solitary calls from a male in early spring probably mean that he has not attracted a mate. During courtship, mated pairs perform a riotous duet of cackles, hoots, caws and gurgles. Although the bird is mostly active at night, it will also call and even hunt in the daytime. Barred Owls have a distinctive hooting call of 8–9 notes, described as “Who cooks for you? The Barred Owl gets its name from the bar-like marks on its feathers. When barred owls begin to mate in late winter, they give forth a loud series of howling screams that are quite frightening.