Hello Tweets,

I need some help on owl calls. I live in rural Snohomish County, nearly
surrounded by woods. For several weeks I've had the good fortune to hear
great horned owl duets in the woods behind my house in the evenings. In the
late fall I often heard barred owls (and got occasional views) but I haven't
noticed any since the great horned owls appeared. Last night, however, I
heard what I think may have been a confrontation between the two species and
I would appreciate comments from those of you familiar with the different
owl calls and behaviors.

I walked into the woods to get closer to the calls and I listened to them
for nearly a half hour. At first it was the familiar great horned owl duet.
As I walked deeper into the woods I thought I heard a third great horned owl
join in; two appeared to be calling at the same pitch; the other was a
higher pitch, presumably a female. A few minutes later I began hearing some
odd screeching sounds--like a combination of a high-pitched horse whinny and
the familiar sound of a robin severely scolding someone. This screaming
continued as I continued to listen and contemplate, then I heard a loud
WHOOOOAAAAH - the distinct barred owl call -- among the other call notes and
screams. This was exciting because it reminded me of a close encounter I
witnessed between a barred owl and a squirrel in my yard (last fall) when I
heard the same WHOOOAAAH call. The screaming and calling continued and I
listened, fascinated, until it got too dark to remain in the woods. After I
got back to the house I could still hear the duet, but the screams were
becoming too faint to hear any longer.

I wonder if the screaming was coming from the barred owl (or a different
owl?), and if there was a scuffle taking place between one of the great
horned owls and the barred owl. I also wonder if that third great horned
owl was actually a barred owl--since the calls sometimes occurred
simultaneously it was rather difficult to distinguish them all. Or, perhaps
there were four owls.

After I went inside, I got on line and searched the owlpages.com website and
listened to both barred and great horned calls, but couldn't match anything
with the screams I heard. The owl duet I was accustomed to hearing
continued the rest of the evening and I heard them again around 4:30 this
morning. Any comments from you owl experts out there? And can anyone
recommend a website with good owl recordings? Thanks!

-jody



Jody Breckenridge
North of Monroe, Snohomish County
jbreckenridge at r2usa.com