[davercox]

Discussion thread for Tawny Owl. If you would like to add a comment, click the Post Reply button.

[davercox]

Vocalisations are far more varied than generally described.

The main "hooting" song has at least two forms: (1) the classic, strong and determined, "Hoo" ... pause ... "Hoo-hoo-hoo-HOOOO" and (2) a weaker "Hoo", often falling in pitch.

The classic "Ke-wick", very snappy and vehement, also has a weaker variant "Tju-wit".

Many other calls are given: please feel free to add examples !

One that I hear seldom (about once a year) is high-pitched and begins similarly to the "Tju-wit"; but develops into something like "Tju-wit ... Tju-WIT (louder) ... Tju-WIT ... Tju-WIT-to-woo" (the "woo" rising and falling in pitch, and almost mewing in tone). What Shakespeare called "a merry note".

[romillyh]

They certainly are varied! Some recordings here:

http://www.godsownclay.com/TawnyOwls...owlcalls1.html

romillyh

[davercox]

Thanks very much for that link Romilly. Re Shakespeare's 'tu-whit tu-whoo', of course we can't know what he heard, and everyone may be right in thinking he heard a pair hooting and ke-wicking: but the call I have always thought of as Shakespeare's is a version of the female 'wail', good example in clip 2 on page 3 of this site, but with a rise-and-fall in pitch in the second part of the wail that makes it definitely 'tu-wheeoo', a little cat-like but not really mewing. It's great to find it confirmed what I've always thought, that 'tu-whit tu-whoo' is a female call. I hear it rarely, though, last time was in Norfolk, September 2006; I've also heard it in January.

[romillyh]

ah . . . curious you should think that call's the tuwhit tuwoo — if you mean the first loud wail. It hadn't occurred to me...

(Nb for anyone else: this wail's probably better heard in the shorter Clip 3 on page 3 as it's shorter and has other examples of the same wail. Clip 2 simply continues the conversation between the pair that started with the loud wail.)

To me the problem would be that this particular wail call might not be heard very often. All the examples were all made by one female who's excitable and expressive and rather goes in for these "exotic" calls. I haven't heard our other main female making them although she too is quite vocally expressive. I still feel that "kewick (her) . . . hu-hooo (him)" offers the best explanation for "tuwhit tuwoo". But as you say, we don't know what Shakespeare heard!

And yes, the wail seems to be an autumn/winter call — something to do with them starting to think romantically again!

As for being a female call, both sexes wail, but as the male wails (and warbles) in his hoot voice and the female in her kewick voice the two are easily distinguished — as in the first clip in the wail section. Nevertheless I'd agree in so far as females seem to have a wider range of vocalisations than males — they can make these weird and wonderful noises, sustain wails for longer and put more variation into them, while the male is more limited. Yelps seem to about the most he can muster in these exchanges. These seem to be his one "voiced" sound.

Got some more female vocalisations to add some day as I had a microphone in one of our nestboxes this year. The mother made some interesting noises I've not heard before — scratchy grunts to put her chicks to sleep and "galloping" noises made while feeding them.

I don't think one would ever get all the sounds tawnies make!. I've heard a female putting the most anguished tones into her wails . . but you'd have to keep a recorder on 24/7.

Anyway, pleased you found it useful. romillyh