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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Mystery Night Caller (1 Viewer)

T

TreeArtbyRheena

Maker of TreeArt (for love)
Can anyone identify what type of winged creature in central Florida could be making this horrible sound? I've attached a .mp3 file with 5 calls stretched out over 2 minutes. The first call is nearly 20 seconds in, so have patience.

Some details: It begins at nightfall, and goes throughout the night, ceasing with the sunrise. It's a single call, with anywhere from 12 to 19 seconds in between. The call does not seem to be answered by another bird in the area. I know it's some type of bird because it's high up in a tree AND when I've taken early a.m. walks (2 or 3 a.m.), it'll change location too quickly for ground travel plus climbing up high again.

This bird is new to my neighborhood -- been here 10 years and never heard this before last fall. Went away for about a month but it's back again!

I've scoured the Internet's bird call audio files and listened to everything I can find -- and still no match. I'm counting on y'all now... thanks for being there!
 

Attachments

  • Retching Night Bird.mp3
    2.8 MB · Views: 102
Fast and on the Mark!

Eureka! You guys are good! The recording comparison was spot on Po'ouli -- I had listened to and dismissed the Great Horned Owl from other audio recordings I found online, never having heard this particular sound. So thank you, thank you thank you.

One more question:

1. Anyone know what type of call this is? Mating call? Territorial? Female only? Male only?

If I know, perhaps I can telepathically assist in turning the owl to some of it's other songs, which I very much enjoy. o:)
 
Oh man that's just depressing. We don't go to bed until 6 a.m. so I am literally up all night, and not exaggerating when I say the calling goes on all night. I can't bear to think there's a baby owl out there, hungry, and not being fed. But on the other hand, this has been going on for months now so obviously the owl hasn't died of starvation yet, and eventually it will outgrow that sound.

Thanks for the reply.
 
Great horned owl

TreeArtbyRheena said:
Oh man that's just depressing. We don't go to bed until 6 a.m. so I am literally up all night, and not exaggerating when I say the calling goes on all night. I can't bear to think there's a baby owl out there, hungry, and not being fed. But on the other hand, this has been going on for months now so obviously the owl hasn't died of starvation yet, and eventually it will outgrow that sound.

Thanks for the reply.
Click to expand...
I think what krater was saying was the young
owl was begging for food (and being fed periodically) not that it was not being fed surely if its been calling for months it would not survive that long pity
you can,t get someone who can look into this for you who has a knowledge
of birds and owls who is local.
 
I doubt this call is in fact a young bird begging, it would have to be from last season surely. I would have thought that the parents would have expelled this bird from their territory in the back end of last summer. Some juv. birds do continue to use their begging calls for nearly a year (some terns for example) but I am very surprised a large owl species would. Could it not be one of the lesser known female calls - to do with courtship, I would think more likely - they would be laying very soon.

Can GH Owls breed in the autumn??

I'm sure there is no need to intervene. Calls like this cause an emotional response in humans far removed from the bird's own reality, I'm convinced.
 
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Simon, your answer resonates, thank you. I wasn't ready to start laying out dead rodents or anything... it's just nice to let go of the (human perspective) worry.

You know, maybe that's why this owl did show up last fall -- it was kicked out of Mom and Dad's area prior to their next season. Maybe this guy is just a stubborn teenager who'd rather ask for food than go get it? Surely behavior patterns have their own spectrum within a species.

If it's courtship, either there's a shortage of male GHO's in the area or she must have a personality defect 'cause no one's buying...
 
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In Florida, Great Horned Owls breed in the winter. I don't think it is unusual to have fledged young in early February.

Andy
 
Except it began in September or October 2013 and has continued to Now. And, there are no other GHO calls, at all. You'd think the parents would be heard.
 
Kratter said:
In Florida, Great Horned Owls breed in the winter. I don't think it is unusual to have fledged young in early February.

Andy
Click to expand...

Thanks Andy - I suspected that they might breed early/late - given the latitude. Here in southern Iberia, Eurasian Eagle Owls lay from late January and don't have begging young till well into the spring.
 
TreeArtbyRheena said:
Except it began in September or October 2013 and has continued to Now. And, there are no other GHO calls, at all. You'd think the parents would be heard.
Click to expand...


I would imagine (Andy?) that once they have laid, and till the young have flown, they wouldn't call much. Most of the calling would be in the courtship - pre-breeding time. When they have young to feed they will be very discreet.
 
Okay to all of that, Simon, except for the detail of the onset of the calls taking place in early Fall -- ahead of breeding time.

Interestingly enough, last night, and tonight too, he/she is silent!
 
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The saga continues...

TreeArtbyRheena said:
... Interestingly enough, last night, and tonight too, he/she is silent!
Click to expand...

And he's (she's) back! And we finally spotted him quite by chance. Sitting at the absolute tippy top of our neighbor's Australian Pine -- the tallest tree in the neighborhood. HUGE owl silhouette in the dusk -- not enough light to make out the coloration (juvenile or adult) or take a pic. I've emailed the Cornell Lab of Ornithology with the behavior profile to see if they can nail down the story.
 
TreeArtbyRheena said:
And he's (she's) back! And we finally spotted him quite by chance. Sitting at the absolute tippy top of our neighbor's Australian Pine -- the tallest tree in the neighborhood. HUGE owl silhouette in the dusk -- not enough light to make out the coloration (juvenile or adult) or take a pic. I've emailed the Cornell Lab of Ornithology with the behavior profile to see if they can nail down the story.
Click to expand...

Great that you've managed to see the beast! The large owls are fabulous to have around - the Eur. Eagle Owls here are wonderful too - but avoid houses normally.

Simon Wates said:
I would imagine (Andy?) that once they have laid, and till the young have flown, they wouldn't call much. Most of the calling would be in the courtship - pre-breeding time. When they have young to feed they will be very discreet.
Click to expand...

On re-reading my hurried post I see that I was not clear. When I refer to calling - I meant the courtship calls from the adults ie; hooting. The call originally posted of the begging youngster is very different. The adults will call more and more as the laying time approaches and then become rather silent I believe. As Andy says GHO's can breed in the winter then a large fledging juv. in early February must mean laying in October sometime. That is what makes me curious.
 
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Simon Wates said:
... On re-reading my hurried post I see that I was not clear. When I refer to calling - I meant the courtship calls from the adults ie; hooting. The call originally posted of the begging youngster is very different. The adults will call more and more as the laying time approaches and then become rather silent I believe. As Andy says GHO's can breed in the winter then a large fledging juv. in early February must mean laying in October sometime. That is what makes me curious.
Click to expand...

Thanks Simon, and for the record, your intended meaning is what I took from your original post. It's just that the 'laying in October sometime' part (which I understand would be a curiosity in itself) doesn't jive with the fact that the alleged juv. moved into the area in October, possibly September. But let's say it IS a juv., my next wonderment is how he gets anything to eat at all if he's sitting there calling all night long. I need to get some night vision goggles...3:)

Still not heard back from the Cornell Lab, but their automated response did say that they have quite the load of email queries to deal with, and to be patient.
 
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