![]() This will begin in the fall, normally around October. Usually, the male stays in its one designated spot and lets the female come to him. The male owl has claimed its territory in a new home and has begun letting out hoots to attract a female to its nest. This is where scoping out for a mate begins. Some owls, especially Great Horned Owls, believe in staying with one partner for life and have a set schedule for when they decide to find their mate and begin laying their eggs.Įach season, a new process begins in the territorial and mating cycle. The female has a slightly higher voice and an audible tremolo sound, while the male is a bit lower and smoother.Īs we’ve just discussed, a big reason why owls like to hoot at each other is to find a mate and eventually begin breeding and starting a family. Here’s a couple of Barred owls hooting back and forth. Some owls start to give off a deep hoot around dusk and wait for a female to return a similar but somewhat higher pitched hoot back at him. Male owls will make sure to keep other males out of their nest and away from them entirely so they don’t have any competition standing in the way. Owl noises are of course made to keep things out of their home territory, but they’re also made to attract others into their territory as well. ![]() This might also be accompanied by beak snapping to make a loud clicking sound. Sometimes when they see a threat while protecting their nest, you can hear a snarl come out that doesn’t stop until the predator finally goes away. When this noise comes deep out of their throat it might sound short and lower-pitched than a lot of other sounds they make. ![]() It’s a less intense situation than an actual predator attack, but this could definitely provoke an owl to vocalize at night.īarking isn’t the only similarity owls share with dogs, they’ve also been known to growl at predators when feeling threatened. If an owl is surprised or feeling threatened, it will sometimes make less intense types of calls in order to scare off any threatening being that may be lurking nearby. Is that a dog outside? It could be… or it might be an owl! If an owl spots something, or someone, out of the ordinary and thinks it may possibly be threatening them or their claimed territory, some owls will start to let out a lower pitched barking noise. This would be more common in places where you have overlapping raptor habitats, like a small Owl nesting close to a large owl. The owl might begin to attack or let out a loud screeching or shrieking sound until the attacker has either given up and left the owl nest or has been defeated in the fight with the owl. Attacking a Predator (Defence Calls)Īlthough it’s somewhat rare in certain places, owls will sometimes hoot when faced with a predator. These calls also help to attract females at the start of their courtship season. Once they’ve done that, they’ll start hooting to make everyone aware of this new home and that others, especially males, need to stay away. Owls don’t make their own nests, so they instead find nests that have already been made, normally by birds, and make it their new home. There’s a lot of variation in the specific calls between species, but often when you hear owls hooting at night this is what they’re doing. Here’s an example of a great horned owl giving a classic territorial call.Ī lot of owls hoot like this to send a message to other owls letting them know the territory they’ve just found is officially claimed. Territorial behavior is one of the most common reasons owls hoot. Here are a few different sounds an owl makes and what they’re trying to communicate with each noise. So, if you listen closely, you’ll hear the variations and differences in each hoot. Owls are always hooting for a specific intention. The Different Noises Owls MakeĮven though owls make a lot of random noises, the reasons they’re being emitted aren’t random. Let’s learn more about the specific noises owls make and what else they’re up to while awake and active at night. It’s also easier for them to hunt nocturnal prey and avoid most of their predators. This is because their senses are strong enough to live at night. Most of them hunt and set up territory in the nighttime. They choose nighttime as their designated hoot time because most owls, not all, are nocturnal animals.
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