A barred owl will take bird, just not a frequently as it would take a rodent. Compared to a sharpie, a barred owl is rather slow, relying on attacking unseen. A sharpie attack is more like is drone, chase, turn, twist, strike. 

On Mar 7, 2015, at 8:20 AM, Mary Alexnderson wrote:

> When the sharpie(who did get a blue jay yesterday) is nearby the birds all leave or freeze in place. This morning with a barred owl in the tree next to the feeder it was business as usual, with chickadees flitting around and cardinal pair eating on the ground. Will the owl not take a bird? I did notice a dearth of squirrels.
> thanks for the info.
> mary
> 
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