Barred Owl
(Pastel)

We repeat a barred owl. Not a barn owl. The barn owl has an light colored face (some are almost white). The color of the back of the wings and top of the head is "buff" - ergo, orangish brown.

Barred owls, on the other hand, look a lot like spotted owls. The key is the breast feathers. Spotted owls have, well, they have spots. Barred owls have the feathers looking more like streaks, as we see here. That is, the feathers look like bars.

There are practical reasons to draw birds. The overall forms are not terribly complex (particularly if they are rather plump and simply sitting around). So the actual blocking out of the composition is not too demanding. As a result this drawing took only relatively little time compared to drawings of cows, dogs, horses, or (yes) people.

References

"Barn Owl", Cornell Lab of Onightology.

"Barn Owl", Cornell Lab of Onightology.

"Spotted Owl", Cornell Lab of Onightology.