General Question

rowenaz's avatar

Which owl made this noise?

Asked by rowenaz (2441points) July 21st, 2009

I’ve tried to identify it on 10 different sites, but I can only narrow it down to a Long-eared Owl, or a Great Horned Owl. The pattern is different though. It went:

Hoo-Hoo, Hoo-Hoo, Hoooooo
Hoo-Hoo, Hoo-Hoo, Hoooooo

and it was always those five even calls. There was no vibration or screeching.

Thanks for your help!

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

10 Answers

syz's avatar

What area are you from?

Around here, Barred Owls call in the pattern of “Who cooks for you?”.
Great Horned have the classic cartoon “hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo”.

Have you checked these sites?

http://www.junglewalk.com/sound/owls-sounds.htm
http://www.owling.com/Owling.htm
http://www.owlcam.com/soundlib/sound_lib.htm

rowenaz's avatar

Connecticut – and it definitely wasn’t a barn owl. Thanks for the second on the GHO!

syz's avatar

Barred, much different than Barn.

Good luck!

rowenaz's avatar

Not the barred, it’s not the WHO COOKS FOR YOU, WHO COOKS FOR YOU ALL. I tried the owling site, now I’ll try toe owlcam, thanks.

sandystrachan's avatar

I would have said Bubo Bubo ( Eurasian eagle owl ), but mine never made tho “Hoooooo” at the end . Tho during certain calls it did “Hoooooo” only .

evelyns_pet_zebra's avatar

When it comes to Barred Owls, the male calls like you pointed out, and the female has the trill at the end of her call. I’ve always been fascinated by the owls around here, they are awesome creatures.

gailcalled's avatar

In CT, Barred and Great Horned would be the most common and the most likely. The calls can vary slightly by location and even by neighborhoods. The robins’s song in Philadelphia was slightly different from their singing in rural NYS.

gailcalled's avatar

I just checked my new birding book. Great Horned would be the most likely; the syllabification was listed as similar to yours.

Voice “Song a deep, muffled hooting in rhythmic series hoo hoodoo hoooo hoo or longer ho hoo hoo hoododo hooooo hoo; only slightly deeper than Mourning Dove. Female voice higher-pitched than male; courting female answers male with low, nasal, barking guwaay. Juvenile begs with high, wheezy, scratchy, or hoarse bark reeeek or sheew or cheeoip; variable, usually shorter and less rasping than Barn Owl but some very similar.”

Mourning Dove

rowenaz's avatar

Yes, I think it must have been a female!

LyreBirdGirl's avatar

Great horned owl seems right, They can also make a variety of screeching and hissing noises when angry or courting! Hope this helped!
Even though Im new to this website, I am not new to birding! :)

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.

This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.

Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther