From: Lang Elliott <>
>
> Walt:
>
> I don't think this chick was at a nest. It moved around through the night
> and I couldn't find any nest the next morning. The typical calling pattern
> is for a chick to repeat its call every XX seconds or so, in a fairly
> regular fashion, for long periods . . . until an adult arrives with food,
> then you get the excited calling.
There was no excited calling in my case. And at least three widely
separated callers. Though I only was there for about a half hour longer
after making the recording, I was there for a total of about three hours
waiting for darkness. I was scouting a whole bunch of these river bottom
swamps for River Frogs and this was at one end of the run. No luck
there, it would be a new edge to their range. Habitat looks right, just
no River Frogs this time. As usual, not finding them says nothing.
> The Barred Owl immatures on the Stokes Guide were very young, just fledged.
> I saw them and they were clearly fledglings. I believe the own in my
> recording and the one you recorded are larger and would look like adults.
> There's no doubt a lot of variability in this call, depending upon age and
> circumstances, but all would be a hissy screech of one sort or the other.
I would not really call it hissy in my case, more raspy. And calling it
a screech would be a stretch. I'm virtually certain we have the right ID
on this one. So, yes, variable. As much as I'm out in their habitat,
it's surprising I've not come across more. I see and hear the adults
frequently.
> I also have various examples of Great Horned Owl young giving similar calls,
> although they are usually either lower and more husky, or else they produce
> whistling screeches that sound like a whistle when heard at a distance.
The back woods behind our place has some Great Horned Owls, not sure if
they nest there, but I've assumed so. Never seen them in daytime, just
hear them at night. Then only the adult calls.
> Some believe that the Eastern Screech-Owl was named inappropriately,
> probably because someone misidentified the call of a young Barred Owl. While
> E. Screech-Owls rarely give a screechy call, they mostly give whinnies and
> trills which aren't at all like a screech.
The Eastern Screech-Owls that call in nearby woods never give anything
resembling a screech.
I suppose eventually I'll get serious about recording birds too. I've
already had requests down here to produce a bird equivalent of the frog
CD. I don't think I'll live long enough to do that, ten times as many
species to find. I should do the night callers at least.
Walt
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