Welcome to my new nature blog!
"But, Karis!" I hear you all cry in unison, "How do you possibly remember what all the different owls sound like?"
WELL, I'M GLAD YOU ASKED THAT, INTERNET.
I'm not going to cover all owl species in this one blog post, and - like most animals - owls make a variety of noises and I'm just going to cover the most common ones, but here are some of the most likely responses to "I HEARD A BIRDLIKE THING AT NIGHT, WHAT WAS IT?!"
Let's start with the one everyone learns first:
Barred owl
Strix varia
Says: Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you aaalll? (Four staccato notes repeated followed by a longer trilled note. Sometimes heard without the long trilled note (the "aaalll" part) but it is still a barred owl!)
The one that is frequently confused with the barred owl:
Great horned owls (the kind of owl that lives on my side)
Bubo virginianus
Says: Who's awake? Me tooooo. (Three staccato notes followed by two long notes)
If you hear an extremely stereotypical owl it is probably:
Long-eared owl
Asio otus
Literally just says "Hoo." I didn't think any of them actually sounded like this, but they totally do.
If you hear a noise that sounds like a tiny tiny horse (and you are East of the Mississippi) it is probably:
Eastern screech-owl
Megascops asio
These guys make a lot of noises but the most common/cutest is called the "whinny". Seriously. A tiny tiny horse. They also trill a lot. They're adorable.
If you are West of the Mississippi and you hear something that sounds like a bouncy-ball dropping with increasing frequency it is probably:
Western screech-owl
Megascops kennicottii
They don't really sound anything like the eastern screech-owl. Bouncy-ball increasing in frequency is really the best way I can describe it.
If you hear something that sounds like A NIGHTMARE TERROR BEAST it is probably:
Barn owl
Tyto alba
Seriously. Like nightmares and/or murder victims.
And that's owl for now! I will probably do another installment with more owl noises in the future. Let me know what you think of my new blog and if there is anything you particularly want to learn about and I will see what I can do.
Also, title stolen from Jeph Jacques. You can totally buy a shirt that says it here.
