Subject: Re: Barred Owl Voice ID??
Date: Nov 21 14:36:14 1994
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at ups.edu


>Here is a message I tried to send earlier but apparently failed. Our e-mail
>link isn't very good - it goes through MSMAIL, our agency WAN in Olympia,
>and through a gateway (SMTP). So yes, it strips the headers and is down a
>lot. Incidentally, being new to Internet, I really appreciate the time
>people are taking to explain the mechanics of this. This group of people is
>a lot more friendly than some I've read about!! I don't think we can reply
>by typing "R". We have a windows interface through MSMAIL. Does anyone
>know if we can reply by clicking on the "Reply" button? I've tried it but
>it doesn't seem to work.
>
>BARRED OWLS:
>
>A large owl landed in a very tall Douglas Fir near my house Friday night
>after dark. Could not see it since it was dark and so high up (not for lack
>of trying). It made a lot of very strange noises, which I have attempted to
>describe below:
>
>First, it had a high pitched cry or screetch. Sounded a like a human child.
> First there were three screetches, then two, then one. Then, it started
>hooting and making funny noises, it sounded like a monkey hooting (believe
>it or not). Then it finally settled down to something that sounded more
>like an owl, which went like this: ho who who-who-who who ho. The
>first and last notes were lower, rising in pitch in the middle. The voice
>was very loud and resonant, and sounded very human. I went back in and
>listened to my Audubon vidotapes, and the voice sounded most like a barred
>owl in quality. Also could have been a great horned owl, but it just didn't
>sound right. I don't have the tapes of birdsong. There are barred owls in
>St. Edwards Park, only a few blocks from my house.
>
>Can anyone comment on this?? I have never heard anything like it and don't
>know anything about owl noises. Incidentally, someone was looking for
>barred owls, St. Edwards Park might be a good place. They nested there this
>spring.
>
>Teresa Michelsen
>temi461 at ecy.wa.gov
>Inglewood, King County, WA

Teresa, it sounds more like a Great Horned Owl to me. They give
high-pitched calls a lot; I've always thought these calls were
characteristic of young birds, but perhaps adults give them too. I never
heard a high-pitched screech from a Barred Owl when I lived near them in
Florida, while I hear that call all the time from GHOs here. The hoot call
also sounds more like a horned. Barred either give their typical "who cooks
for you, who cooks for you-all" call or go off into a cacophony of hoots
which indeed may sound much like a tribe of monkeys, but the 7-noted call
you described doesn't really sound like a Barred. I hope you can find it.


Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound email: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416