I had a saw-whet owl 🦉 calling at my house this spring. I recorded it and when I played it for my friend, she described the call like the warning sound a truck makes when it’s backing up. It isn’t a hoot sound. I put the recording on eBird.
A great puzzle to work out.
Barbara Powers
Manchester Center
Sent from my iPhone
> On Apr 27, 2026, at 9:51 AM, Green Mountain Access <durand...> wrote:
>
> Their territories can overlap . Try the Cornell Lab All About Birds site and listen to the first listed Long-eared Owl sound . It might ring a bell .
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Charlie Teske" <cteske140...>
> To: "Vermont Birds" <VTBIRD...>
> Sent: Monday, April 27, 2026 9:09:37 AM
> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Owl call question
>
> Last night I got the "who cooks for you." Same owl, or do they compete for territory?
>
>
>
> On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 19:53:21 -0400, Ian Worley <iworley...> wrote:
>
> Hi Charlie,
>
> Yes, It would be helpful if you listened to some Northern saw-whet owl
> recordings. If you are able, note how an individual call (what you are
> calling a hoot) ends. Also, it is possible that the bird will give an
> entirely different call at times. So don't be surprised.
>
> Ian
>
>> On 4/26/2026 6:22 PM, Vermont Green Mountain Access wrote:
>> Sawhet owl?
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>>> On Apr 26, 2026, at 2:19 PM, Charlie Teske wrote:
>>>
>>> 9:30 at night in hemlock trees just across a brook. I'll listen tonight re timing of hoots.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> On Sun, 26 Apr 2026 10:28:02 -0400, Ian Worley wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi. Nice puzzle! Can you describe in detail a single hoot? How long
>>> was each hoot? How long between each hoot? Did the hoots vary at all?
>>> Distance from you?
>>>
>>> Time of night? What kind of woods? I don't remember where you live.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Ian
>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>> On 4/26/2026 10:08 AM, Charlie Teske wrote:
>>>> Last night we had an owl repeat a "hoot" at short intervals for several minutes. No "who cooks for you" or other song like the barred or great-horned ones we've had in the woods previously.
>>>> Is anyone familiar with this communication?
>>>
