Young Southern Boobooks makes a
cricket-like trill call. I’m trying to locate a sound file for you, but
in the meantime, here’s a link to a Jerry Olsen paper about boobook
calls.
http://aerg.canberra.edu.au/reprints/2002_Olsen_etal_Boobook_vocalizations.pdf
Cheers
Anthony
-----Original Message-----
From: Alastair Smith
[
Sent: Wednesday, 10 January 2007
9:38 AM
To: 'Gina Wyatt'
Cc: Canberrabirds
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] What
owl is that?
Gina,
I too would agree that it
is a Southern Boobook. HANZAB (Volume 4) states the owl ‘…probably
has widest known range of calls of any Australian Ninox; calls variously
described as hoots, croaks, brays, yelps, growls, trills, screams and squeals.
Calls vary from low to load and from soft to strident’.
Cheers
Alastair
From:
Gina Wyatt [
Sent: Tuesday, 9 January 2007 9:32
PM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] What owl
is that?
Hello all,
I am a complete newbie in this bird-spotting bizzo! I have just returned from
walking the dogs having spotted some kind of owl (my very first ever!).
We were doing the circuit of Chauvel Circle in Chapman when we heard a bizarre
hoarse trilling whistling call. We thought it might some loud, strange
cicada or bat perhaps - we could hear another calling off to the west - and
very quietly continued on our way. As we walked the calling was tending to move
forward away from us. Keeping our eyes peeled we finally spotted something
winged moving between the trees. By the time we reached Darwinia Tce the
unidentified flying object was perched on the big gum near the Darwinia Tce
underpass. I got a reasonable look at it (long enough for it to have a good
look at me too, and a lovely owly blink) but as it was so dim, all I can say
for certain is it was an owl, a reasonably small one, probably greyish brown in
colour with possibly some banding on the feathers?, and continued to make this
very high-pitched, trilling hoarse whistle. It then flew off to the north-west.
I've listened to the calls of the Southern Boobook and Tawny Frogmouth on the
COG website and it most definitely wasn't one of those. Can anyone tell
me what my exciting sighting was of?
Cheers
Gina
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