Despite extensive accounts in the literature describing Barred Owls (Strix varia) as obligate forest-interior species, Barred Owls have increasingly been observed in urbanized landscapes. To determine if certain habitat characteristics, such as mature urban trees, facilitate the occurrence of Barred Owls in developed regions, we deployed GPS transmitters on 20 breeding Barred Owls in northwestern South Carolina. We selected territories containing a gradient of development density and habitat types to examine predictors of home range size and habitat selection along an urban-rural gradient. We related nocturnal locations to habitat features using resource selection functions (RSFs). We explored differential use along a development gradient by modeling interactions between habitat parameters and measures of development in the home range. Home range size varied from 0.38 km² to 3.38 km²; size increased with the percentage of treeless area in the territory such as agricultural fields and power lines. Distance to nest, tree height, and distance to canopy edge were the most important predictors of owl use. Barred Owl selection for roadsides and aquatic features increased with degree of fragmentation in the home range. This is the first resource selection study using GPS data to examine habitat use of Barred Owls in the context of development. Our results highlight the behavioral plasticity of a species previously described as sensitive to anthropogenic impacts. The presence of this large avian predator in urban forests suggests that retaining key habitat features can promote multi-trophic communities even when other aspects of the habitat are highly altered.

尽管在描述条纹猫头鹰（Strix varia）作为专性的森林内部物种，在城市化景观中越来越多地观察到条纹猫头鹰。为了确定某些栖息地特征（例如成熟的城市树木）是否有助于发达地区出现条纹猫头鹰，我们在南卡罗来纳州西北部的20个繁殖条纹猫头鹰中部署了GPS发射器。我们选择了包含发展密度和栖息地类型梯度的地区，以检验沿城乡梯度的家庭范围大小和栖息地选择的预测因子。我们使用资源选择功能（RSF）将夜间位置与栖息地特征相关联。我们通过对栖息地参数与家庭范围内的发展指标之间的相互作用进行建模，探索了沿发展梯度的差异利用。射程范围从0.38 km ²到3.38 km² ; 面积随农田和电力线等无树面积的百分比而增加。到巢的距离，树的高度以及到树冠边缘的距离是猫头鹰使用的最重要预测指标。条纹猫头鹰对路边和水生生物的选择随着家庭范围内破碎程度的增加而增加。这是首次使用GPS数据进行资源选择研究，以研究在开发环境中条纹猫头鹰的栖息地使用情况。我们的结果强调了先前描述为对人为影响敏感的物种的行为可塑性。在城市森林中这种大型鸟类捕食者的存在表明，即使栖息地的其他方面发生了很大的变化，保留重要的栖息地特征也可以促进多营养群落。