insanityslave Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 last night we camped out in tents in our back yard (to test our young kids... and our sleeping pads). in the middle of the night i woke and heard a bunch of hooting/talking back and forth going on. i have heard the 'who cooks for you' from a barred owl in the woods by us so im certain we have at least 1 around, though i did not hear the 'who cooks for you' last night. i can say with relative confidence due to how the hoot sounded and ebirds bar charts, that i probably heard a few barred owls last night. i awoke again later... probably in the 3-4am range and heard more hooting... but it was a little different. then i thought i heard the crow of a rooster. i even opened my eyes to see if it was starting to light. it wasnt. i dont know of any chickens near me, but there is a place a few houses down an adjacent road that has horses and, i suppose, could have chickens too... or anyone could for that matter. and heres where it gets odd. the rooster i heard (for the sake of argument well say definitively it was a rooster going off way too early) went off a couple/few times then i heard what sounded like an owl trying to mimic the rooster. the rooster would crow then the owl would try to copy it. after about 3 attempts the owl basically had it down to where the rooster would crow and the owl would answer back. this went on for quite a while. i almost went into the house for my phone so i could record it... but it was not worth getting cold (53) and wet (dew) to do so. thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viurre Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Have you compared it to the sound of a Barred owl? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonestranger Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Perhaps you're hearing young owls still in the nest who are just learning to use their voice and haven't quite got it right yet? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanityslave Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 7 hours ago, Viurre said: Have you compared it to the sound of a Barred owl? i did, but im comparing it to memory... after waking up in the middle of the night... so yeah... my wife did confirm there is someone near with chickens/roosters. suppose it *could* be two of them going off to early... but man, i swear it sounded just like an owl hooting /shrug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insanityslave Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 7 hours ago, lonestranger said: Perhaps you're hearing young owls still in the nest who are just learning to use their voice and haven't quite got it right yet? could be? im too ignorant of owls to conjecture on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheycallMetheDocta88 Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 I've heard this same rooster sounding bird or owl deep in the woods. It is slightly different then a rooster and I have not been able to match it to any owl either here in NJ. Although for me I heard them all around dusk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Friedman Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 1 hour ago, TheycallMetheDocta88 said: I've heard this same rooster sounding bird or owl deep in the woods. It is slightly different then a rooster and I have not been able to match it to any owl either here in NJ. Although for me I heard them all around dusk. Welcome to Whatbird! If you ever get a recording, people here might be able to help you with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbvol50 Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 Likely a Barred Owl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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