Last August, I was able to tape about 8 minutes of the calls of a Strix
occidentalis X varia (Spotted x Barred) hybrid owl in the Goat Rocks
Wilderness Area. That tape is now archived at The Library of Natural
Sounds, Cornell Univ. The voice is so different from that of either of the
parent owls that questions have arisen as to the exact nature of the
methods by which voice patterns are passed along through generations of
birds (genetic inheritance / learning / some combination of the two / other
unknown means). The sample of "Sparred" owl calls on tape is still very
small, but what there is suggests that all "Sparreds" may sound very
similar. A small study is under way to try for more recordings of these
rare birds and compare them. I would very much like to contact anyone who
makes recordings of bird voices, and who might be interested in this
project. J.R. Fletcher (at Carmody's computer)

LEGACY TOURS: Natural History Today and Tomorrow
Michael & Susan Carmody
PO Box 12540
Olympia, WA 98508-2540 USA

Telephone: (360) 754-6186
Fax: (360) 754-6186
E-mail: legacy at halcyon.com