Hi tweets,
For the beginning owler just trying to get the hoots down, I have
two phrases that help you remember which low-pitched hooter you are
listening to.
Great horned Owls have a rhythm/cadence that sounds like: "WHO's AWAKE!
me to"
Barred Owls sound like: "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you two? It
sounds better than it reads, but give it a try. I didn't invent this; I
stole it from some commercial tape.
Janet Partlow
partlowj at elwha.evergreen.edu

On Thu, 3 Oct 1996, Kathleen Hunt wrote:

>
> Hi tweets -- apropos of recent owl hoot discussion, my father just sent me
> the following owl hoot question, from southern Maine:
>
> ***
> Last night I heard an owl hooting, somewhere in the middle of the island.
> It went on for some time, around midnight. It was wonderful. I don't think
> I've ever heard an owl before.
>
> I tried to identify it from the book (an old Peterson). It was definitely a
> hoot, not a screech, so I thought great horned or barred. It repeated the
> same pattern: hoot-hoothoothoot-hoothoothoot-hoot. Now the book says a
> barred owl is sometimes called an eight-hooter, and there are eight hoots
> for you, but, according to Peterson, not in that 1-3-3-1 pattern. The book
> seems to say that it should be 2-2 and then another 2-2.
>
> Do you have any owl experts to advise of this? And how do you find an owl?
> Do they hoot from the same tree where they live and drop their pellets? Do
> they favor conifers over deciduous trees?
>
> Or does one go out and pish? But if I'm a successful pisher, will I be
> carried off?
>
> ***
>
> What do y'all think? Would this be a female great horned?
>
> Thanks,
> Kathleen Hunt
>
>