Early Morning Visitor

[Wanative]

While I don't see them much, I hear these guys a lot at my suburban house. There was one a few years ago that had a unique and seriously startling call that sounded like three short human screams followed by maniacal laughter. And I swear it got a kick out of silently getting as close as possible when I was outside at night (night owl myself), then letting that cackle rip. I'm sure my responding jump and yelp was amusing!

My wife likes to do that to me.
Scares the crap out of me.

 

[troutpocket]

The owls I see most in my neighborhood are Great Horned. They make a good living picking off backyard chickens. It gets your attention when you notice one silhouetted at dusk or silently gliding over your head at dawn.

 

[Jim F.]

Yeah? I never did see it, but came across a similar sound file online that ID'd it as a barred owl.
I'll take your word over the internet, though!

I was going on your written description of the call; you actually heard it. I'd defer to your on-line comparison to what you heard chuckling in the night.

 

[Otter]

Northern, there's a free app called Merlin, by Cornell Univ., that has a bunch of different calls and songs for each bird species. It's also got a very cool new feature that ID's birds using your phone's microphone. I bet Merlin could help you ID that strange owl call you heard.

 

[Crawbugger]

The owls I see most in my neighborhood are Great Horned. They make a good living picking off backyard chickens. It gets your attention when you notice one silhouetted at dusk or silently gliding over your head at dawn.

They also are one of the only birds to predate skunks. Because they have no olfactory receptors.

 

[Triploidjunkie]

The owls I see most in my neighborhood are Great Horned. They make a good living picking off backyard chickens. It gets your attention when you notice one silhouetted at dusk or silently gliding over your head at dawn.

We get a pair that come through about twice a year. I'm always surprised how big they are

 

[troutpocket]

They also are one of the only birds to predate skunks. Because they have no olfactory receptors.

Interesting! We have plenty of those around.