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Re: Fox, deer, owl, crossbills...

Subject: Re: Fox, deer, owl, crossbills...
From: "John Hartog" hartogj
Date: Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:14 pm ((PST))
Hi Chris,

Thanks for the update. Since you didn't see the bird, a best guess was
the best you could do anyway =96 so don't sweat a wrong ID.

Your bird sounds very similar the Northern Pygmy Owls we have here in
NW Oregon. Here's the URL for one of my recordings of what my best
guess is a Northern Pygmy Owl:

http://www.rockscallop.org/ear/jh-060319_n-pygmy-owl.mp3

Even with expert descriptions and recordings to back you up, certainty
is hard to come by.  For instance in NW Oregon the Northern Pygmy Owl
and the Northern Saw-whet Owl seem to follow swapped cadences compared
to descriptions in The Sibley Guide to Birds.  My conclusion is not
definitive, but feedback from others on this group and other sources
at least support the possibility of regional variance in these birds'
calls.

I enjoyed your recordings and descriptions: thanks for sharing.

John Hartog



--- In  "Chris Hails" <>
wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> Thank you indeed for the kind words. I must say that I place messers
> Stewart, Krause and Dugan amongst the gods from whose writings and
> recordings I have learned so much. Your comments are especially
> encouraging. I am very happy you enjoyed this piece from a distant
> disciple.
>
> HOWEVER I must issue a HEALTH WARNING !!  After further research I
> have become concerned that my i.d. of a Scops Owl may have been too
> hasty. Otus scops would be unusual (but not impossible) in that
> location (and in Feb), but the Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium passerinum) has
> been recorded there (and is a resident). The advertising call of the
> male is very close to scops, and it does call in daylight, and
> sonogorams I have seen in print match well with my bird - lacking the
> inflection usually (but not always) found in scops. But this is a bird
> I am completely unfamiliar with (obviously !!).
>
> I cannot find helpful recordings on the web (does Martyn or anyone
> else have it ?). But I have found that Gianni Pavan of this group
> co-authored a paper on Pygmy Owl calls some years back so I have
> written to him off-line hoping he could turn an expert ear to this one.
>
> My apologies if I have mislead anyone. I will post a definitive answer
> if I can get one - how irritating !
>
> C
>
>
>
> --- In  "Cynthia" <cairnblsd@> wrote:
> >
> > Oh Chris, I so enjoyed the way you wrote up and inserted the
> recordings, brought it to life for me.  And the recordings, WOW, can't
> imagine I will ever be that lucky or so talented to capture what you
> were able to get!
> >
> > Thank you for sharing this,
> > Cynthia



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