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AndyS

(14,559 posts)
1. I don't understand why they are called 'screech' owls. Their call is like a soft
Mon Feb 6, 2023, 06:33 PM
Feb 2023

cooing. In a previous life I had a mated pair come back year after year and raise a brood of owlets in a box on the tree in my back yard. It was one of the most wonderful experiences I had!


Daddy owl just hanging out nearby in the daytime.


Baby owlet checking out the world.

Donkees

(32,437 posts)
2. Part of their aggressive threat displays includes some higher-pitch squealing (screeching)
Mon Feb 6, 2023, 07:02 PM
Feb 2023
There's an audio clip of the 'squeal' in link:

Among the Eastern Screech-Owl’s many calls are soft, low hoots; loud, sharp barking calls that indicate alarm or agitation; and, true to their name, screeches—typically given by adults defending nests or fledglings.

https://birdwatchinghq.com/eastern-screech-owl-sounds-and-calls/

AndyS

(14,559 posts)
4. Thank you for the sounds. I've heard the first two many many times.
Mon Feb 6, 2023, 07:20 PM
Feb 2023

The last is new to me. I guess they never felt threatened in our suburban neighborhood.

Thanks also for the wonderful photography you make available to us. Who knew there were so many different humming birds! I hope to post some hummers this March when they come back brom down South.

Donkees

(32,437 posts)
5. Here's a video of a Screech Owl ''screeching''
Mon Feb 6, 2023, 08:51 PM
Feb 2023
Screech starts about 2:00 minute mark:



Nov 16, 2017
Watch and listen as Ms. Owl puffs up her feathers and then screeches loudly several times. These are defensive, territorial warnings. The sound is rarely recorded.


_____

And as for the Hummingbirds, there are several hundred species/sub-species to sort through!



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