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Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Big Noises in the Night?

Did you hear a cacophony of noise emanating from the trees after dark last night? Sounded kind of like dogs barking or howling or squawking or squealing? If you live in my neighbourhood (near Brydie and North Road) you probably did. It was pretty hard to miss. Plus my neighbour, who shall remain nameless, added to the fun with his own hooting and howling, thinking maybe some kind of aggressive mammal was on the loose. He wanted to scare it away - far away. We had as much fun listening to him as we did listening to the BARRED OWLS involved in  a courtship performance.

Barred Owl. Photo courtesy of USFWS.

The Cornell Lab All About Birds page refers to this raucous behaviour as "Pair Caterwauling" and says "During courtship, mated pairs perform a riotous duet of cackles, hoots, caws and gurgles." You can listen to a subdued version here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/sounds

Our neighbourhood owls were much noisier!!

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