This little grey or reddish owl is more common in southern areas and makes two main call types. One is a hollow, fast tremolo all on a similar or slightly dropping pitch. The other is a whinny of falling notes that, if you really concentrate, might remind you of a horse. Its B.C. cousin, the western screech-owl, makes a series of toot calls that speed up at the end, like the pattern of a bouncing ball.
While they are found over most of the country, great horneds are often in more open habitats than the other owls covered here. These very large birds produce a deep "Hoo Hoo Hoo-hoo…Hooooo…Hoooo."
This cute owl may be tiny (only 20 cm from beak to tail tip), but it has a big voice, giving a long, monotonous series of toots. If you hear what sounds like a truck backing up where no truck could possibly be backing up, it could be a northern saw-whet owl.
Who-who-who are they? Keep an ear out for these three cottage owls on your next visit to the lake.
This story was originally published as “Hear Here!” in the Sept./Oct. 2022 issue of Cottage Life.
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