[Birdnet] Northern Hawk Owl

[Tim Avery]

Actually, Northern Saw-whet owl would be the most likely candidate, and not a
long shot. Saw-whets are a common breeder throughout the area in question.  And
in the spring that species is very vocal.  In terms of which species sounds the
most like a Hawk Owl there are several differences in the songs of all the
small owls species mentioned that are clearly different from Hawk Owl, that may
sound very similar to those not familiar with the sounds.  I would have to
respectfully disagree that Boreal Owl necessarily sounds more like a Hawk Owl
than a Saw-whet, as they both sound different in both tone and speed, as well as
number of notes.

The Hawk Owl, a species I have not heard in the wild gives a rapid succession of
fast "to" notes, around 50 or so in less than 10 seconds.  It really is a neat
sound that you can hear here:

http://www.hawkridge.org/audio/Northern%20Hawk%20Owl.mp3

The tone of a Boreal and the speed is very similar to the Hawk Owl, but Boreal
Owl has more of a staccato feel to the song, starting and ending not quite as
loud as the middle.  This owl also sings in short bursts, I would guess 12-18
toots. to-to-to-too-too-tooo-tooo-tooo-too-too-too-too-to, with the notes in
the middle sounding the longest before fading out at the end.

http://www.hawkridge.org/audio/Boreal%20Owl.mp3

Saw-whet owls often stay on the same pitch at the same speed for long periods of
time, to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to... etc.  Those who
have heard saw-whets know that this can be quite variable however, often
ranging from short toots, separated by up to a second, to very fast, several
toots a second when alarmed.  Although I would say that this species at its
fastest, doens't match the speed of the song of a Hawk Owl, but is much more
similar in the respect of average tone, and the fact that their typical song is
longer than 15 fast notes, often tooting out several 100 notes without any
interruption.

http://www.hawkridge.org/audio/Northern%20Saw-whet%20Owl.mp3

Both Saw-whet and Boreal (in the same genus) have similar songs to the Hawk-Owl,
but both are quite unique and different if you study them.  Screech-Owl which I
mentioned yesterday as being similar, is typically found in riparian corridors,
and the area in question, I believe is all coniferous, so unless the area had a
ribbon of deciduous trees that would probably rule out WSOW.

If you haven't been out owling, it is something worth trying, and now is a great
time for both Saw-whet and to try for Boreal Owl, especially in the mountains
between Bear Lake and Logan.

Cheers

Tim
Salt Lake City, UT
tanager at timaverybirding.com
http://www.timaverybirding.com
http://www.timavery.com


Quoting Kevin Colver <colver at csolutions.net>:

> You might check out the song of the Boreal Owl to see if it matches
> the sounds you've heard at the cabin.  Northern Saw-whet Owl would be
> a long shot but sounds less like the Hawk-owl than does Boreal.
> Kevin
>
> Kevin Colver
>
>
> colver at csolutions.net
>
>
>
> On Nov 12, 2007, at 9:14 PM, Connie McManus wrote:
>
> > I went to Cornell's All about Birds page and looked up this bird.
> > As I listened to the recording of the sound this owl makes, it
> > brought back memories of when I lived in Garden City (RIch
> > County).  I owned a cabin in the mountains overlooking Bear Lake
> > and would sit out on the deck spring evenings and hear this same or
> > similar call.  I could have listened to it all night long and have
> > always wondered what made it.  Judging from the fact that
> > utahbirds.org doesn't even have Northern Hawk Owl in the bird
> > guide, I have to assume this bird is very rarely seen this far
> > south.  But, every spring that same call would sound through the
> > forrest, always at night.  I'm still curious to know what kind of
> > night bird makes a sound similar to the Norther Hawk Owl.  Anyone
> > know?  I can't believe that every spring I was hearing a Northern
> > Hawk Owl in Garden City, Utah. If so, maybe next spring someone
> > should spend some time checking it out???
> >
> > --
> > Connie McManus
> > Nibley, Cache County, Utah
> > _______________________________________________
> > Birdnet mailing list
> > Birdnet at utahbirds.org
> > http://utahbirds.org/mailman/listinfo/birdnet
>
>