OK. This is obviously not a mockingbird. Even if you don't know diddley about birds you know this is an owl, and a rather placid one at that.
What you really cannot see is the Northern mockingbird in the tree to the right. It was pitching a hissy fit at the barred owl, who was ignoring both it and the photographer standing below them both.
I—being that photographer—turned to take the mockingbird's photo but it wouldn't hold still. It was just too damn mad to deal with the paparazzi. In your face camera man!
Barred owls (Strix varia) have become more common over the past few decades expanding their range to the west, even displacing the endangered Northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) from their traditional range. This one at Ijams Nature Center perhaps demonstrates why: even if harassed they keep their characteristic air of nonchalance.
Who me? They seem to ask.
I mean: look at that face. They just don't get upset.
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