Owl

[lonestranger]

MJ and I heard a bird last night that we need help identifying. It was calling repeatedly from 8-10pm, when we went to bed, and was calling again/still this morning when we got up at 5am. I have my suspicions but we'll see if those suspicions are supported by better qualified ears. Hopefully the audio file works, the call is faint but can be heard multiple times. North of Waterloo, ON, close to the Grand River. 

Well that didn't work...I'll try again

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by lonestranger

[Avery]

I can’t play or hear the video. 

[The Bird Nuts]

I think we might need @Melierax for this one.

1 minute ago, Avery said:

I can’t play or hear the video. 

I got it to play on a different browser (Brave).

[lonestranger]

Let me know if this works any better.

NightSound.m4a

[Avery]

That one worked. My guess would be Saw-whet

[Melierax]

4 hours ago, The Bird Nuts said:

I think we might need @Melierax for this one.

I got it to play on a different browser (Brave).

Huh?

[Melierax]

That's a Great Horned Owl.

[The Bird Nuts]

Just now, Melierax said:

That's a Great Horned Owl.

I thought you would know what it is!

 

1 minute ago, Melierax said:

Huh?

I was responding to Avery about playing the recording.

[lonestranger]

Well, my suspicions were off. Since I have heard the Who Cooks For You hooting of the Barred Owl a few times, I thought this might have been the female solicitation call looking for a mate. Thanks for the better ears.

 

[Melierax]

2 hours ago, lonestranger said:

Well, my suspicions were off. Since I have heard the Who Cooks For You hooting of the Barred Owl a few times, I thought this might have been the female solicitation call looking for a mate. Thanks for the better ears.

 

To be fair, I've never heard Barred Owl solicitation calls. It does sound spot on for Great Horned though.

[lonestranger]

1 hour ago, Melierax said:

To be fair, I've never heard Barred Owl solicitation calls. It does sound spot on for Great Horned though.

This is the solicitation call from iBird/WhatBird that I compared my recording to...any thoughts?  https://assets.whatbird.com/api/sound/birds_na_147/sound/7647

[Melierax]

7 minutes ago, lonestranger said:

This is the solicitation call from iBird/WhatBird that I compared my recording to...any thoughts?  https://assets.whatbird.com/api/sound/birds_na_147/sound/7647

I've just spent some time listening through different calls. Barred Owls from what I can tell don't make that raspy almost cat-like screech - I still like GHOW.

[Aaron]

Also, would Barred owls give solicitation calls this early? 

I know great horns are well underway in their breeding activities, but I’m pretty sure barred owls don’t start doing so for a couple more months yet. So I don’t think it’d make sense for a female barred owl to be making that call at this time. 
But I’m not exactly sure on their breeding behaviour, just a thought. 

[lonestranger]

1 hour ago, Aaron said:

Also, would Barred owls give solicitation calls this early? 

That's a good question, one I hadn't considered. I know that owls breed earlier than most other birds, but I hadn't considered the variable timing amongst the different species.