On a tangent to the discussion of "hooting" for owls, I'm curious as to
what kind of calls people have heard Saw-whets making. I have only heard
them 2 or 3 times in Alaska and the call was a steady beep-beep-beep like a
little back-up bell. To me that isn't the least bit reminiscent of whetting
a saw, yet their name is supposed to derive from the sound of their call.
Does it have more of a metallic whang when heard up close? Or do they have
different calls in different parts of the country?

Chris Maack
Anchorage, AK
CMaack at compuserve.com