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Hi Steve;
I'd never question the expertise of Susann Myers or Joan Czapalay when it comes to identifying owls - I've been lucky enough to go owling with both of them - but I have to say that your description of the call sounds more like the Barred Owl than the Great Horned to me.
It's funny how a written description can vary from a spoken one. I've read yours several times now, and it sounds like the four notes of a Barred which calls in two sets of two notes: Huh-Hoo and then Hoo-Hoo with the fourth note being slightly drawn out. The pause between the two sets is very brief. (Who cooks for you?)
To my ear, the great Horned gives a 5 note call: Three notes, then two notes - Huh-Huh-Huh - Hoo Hoo (Who's awake - Me too)
Just my two cents worth.
Where in Halifax do you live? Are you close to a wooded area?
Cheers;
Suzanne
--- On Tue, 3/2/10, Susann Myers <myerss@eastlink.ca> wrote:
> From: Susann Myers <myerss@eastlink.ca>
> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Which owl?
> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> Received: Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 5:35 PM
> Hi, Steve.
>
> The owl that has a call similar to what you describe, both
> in pattern and being basically all on one note, is the Great
> Horned Owl. The Barred Owl's calls, even its
> one-syllable "Whooooo", vary a great deal in pitch.
>
> To compare the Great Horned's call to the Mourning Dove's,
> you could go to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website,
> where it's easy to play the calls of a bird that interests
> you. It is at www.birds.cornell.edu
>
> Cheers,
> Susann Myers
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Shaw" <srshaw@DAL.CA>
> To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
> Sent: Monday, March 01, 2010 10:25 PM
> Subject: [NatureNS] Which owl?
>
>
> > A couple of mornings ago I was rudely wakened around
> 6:20 AM (already light
> > then) by a loud 4-note motif coming from a tree
> somewhere outside, from what
> > sounded like an owl. Over a few minutes, the
> call was repeated several times,
> > Huh-hoo, hoo-hoo. The last 3 syllables were
> delivered at a similar low pitch,
> > while the first 'Huh' was pitched a little higher, but
> not by much. The time
> > gap between 2 & 3 was longer than that between
> either 1 & 2, or 3 & 4. Couldn't
> > see the caller at all.
> >
> > Looking in Sibley, this seems to be a best match to
> the call of a Barred Owl.
> > Does that sound like a correct guess? Are they
> common? -- don't seem to hear
> > many owls here.
> > Steve
> > Halifax
> >
> >
>
>
>
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