FW: [birding] Great-horned Owl

[Andy Hoffmann]

There is a family of Great-horned Owls in a patch of Doug fir across a 50
acre clear cut from our place on Starr Creek Road, south of Corvallis.  I
began hearing the juvenile calls as early as April (I think)maybe earlier.
I took me a while to figure out what the calls were, but Don Boucher's
recordings on the Neighborhood Naturalist site nailed down the ID for me
http://www.neighborhood-naturalist.com/bird_sounds/pages/060_owls.htm Thanks
Don!  I have seen adults in that area frequently and have heard lots of
great-horned owls in the area since we moved here in 2004

There are at least two juveniles calling, maybe more.  I've been amazed at
the frequency of the calls.  During the peak of their vocalizations (May
through early July) the calls were almost non-stop, starting at dusk and
going till almost dawn.  I've counted as little as 10-15 seconds between
vocalizations. I still hear the calls every night, albeit not as frequently.

A question that I've had as I listened to the calls well into the night is,
with this continuous calling, how do they have time to eat... and how did
the parent find any prey in the area?  With all the calling you'd think all
the critters within hearing range would be in hiding!

Another question is when do the juveniles disperse and start with the adult
vocalizations?

Andy Hoffmann
Starr Creek Road
Corvallis

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at midvalleybirding.org
[mailto:list-bounces at midvalleybirding.org] On Behalf Of Joel Geier
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 7:56 AM
To: MidValley Birds
Cc: Trent Seager
Subject: Re: [birding] Great-horned Owl

Hi Trent & All,

I haven't been hearing begging calls but have been hearing regular
adult-type calls from Great Horned Owls (GHOW), since the onset of
cooler weather. I also heard a BARN OWL screeching a couple of nights
ago, for the first time in months.

Quite a few years back, I heard GHOW begging calls in late fall, and
asked other birders about it. Larry McQueen informed me that adult GHOWs
will sometimes make these begging calls as part of the pair-bonding
process that precedes the nesting season. Perhaps we're getting into
that season now.

On the other hand, I did see a juvenile that was still bumming off
his/her parents at E.E. Wilson, about a month ago. Maybe just like many
young adult humans nowadays, some of these young owls are slow to get
out into the big world on their own. You know, due to the economy and
all that ;)

Happy owling,
Joel

On Sun, 2009-08-23 at 22:01 -0700, Trent Seager wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I was hearing a GHOW calling with a begging screech (the ascending
"eeeant")
> down by the Willamette River at Crystal Lakes Sports field last Thursday
> during the evening.
> 
> Does anyone suspect like me that this is from the young dispersing from
the
> adults?  With fledging usually happening in April and May, this seems
really
> late to hear young.
> 
> thanks,
> 
> Trent
> 
> Trent Seager
> Corvallis & Newport
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> list at midvalleybirding.org
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