Learn 10 Common Owl Calls (Eastern United States)

[@BadgerlandBirding]

0:00 Intro 0:20 Great Horned Owl (1) 0:58 Great Horned Owl Call 1:08 Barred Owl 1:37 Barred Owl Call (2) 2:12 Eastern Screech Owl 2:50 Eastern Screech Owl Calls (3 and 4) 3:10 Northern Saw-whet Owl 3:32 Northern Saw-whet Owl Call (5) 3:45 Barn Owl 4:11 Barn Owl Call (6) 4:27 Long-eared Owl 4:44 Long-eared Owl Call (7) 5:02 Short-eared Owl 5:32 Short-eared Owl Calls (8 and 9) 5:56 Snowy Owl 6:05 Snowy Owl Call (10) 6:12 Juvenile Owls 6:30 Juvenile Owl Calls (Bonus) 6:38 Other Owl-like sounds 6:50 Mourning Dove Call (Bonus)

[@janetalberto9413]

Our home is in the Chattahoochee forrest up in the Georgia mountains. I hear Great Owls And Barred Owls every night. Pretty awesome.

[@marybillups4822]

@@BadgerlandBirding Thank you so much!

[@MaddoxLightning]

I was so excited to watch this video you kindly made and shared. It is wonderful. And easy to understand. And, it seems the owl I have been trying to identify might not be any of these- unless they have alternate calls… In the evenings, there is an owl outside, who calls a while after sunset. Only once each night- that I can hear. There is a single scream and then almost immediately a ‘who-who’ space ‘who-who’. I live in Sequim Washington. Any ideas? I’ve heard this for the last few weeks of winter. Around 6:00pm.

[@melanielanders7819]

This was the absolute best identifier of owls I have ever heard. I identified 3 owls in my forest, thought I only had Barred owls, but I also have Great Horned and Long Eared Owl! So exciting, many thanks for a wonderful video!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

You’re welcome! Thank you so much for the kind words!

[@AndrewDavis-sj6mb]

​@@BadgerlandBirdingBird calls can be someone 😊 or 😡

[@hollyz5260]

I was outside tonight and heard a bird call. Thanks to your video, I now know it's an Eastern Screech Owl!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@hollyz5260 awesome! Congrats on the find!

[@carolshannon6449]

I long to see owls, I have only seen one in the wild, but I have heard several. It always thrills me!

[@shiroamakusa8075]

Ain't it amazing that they gave the moniker "screech owl" to owls that don't screech and NOT to that feathered banshee, the rather innoculously named "barn" owl?

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@shiroamakusa8075 haha yeah that’s true

[@marybillups4822]

The prettiest owl has such a awful call!

[@0palOpal0pal]

It's to keep us on our toes lol

[@BrentMB79]

The screech owl can make a raccoon like scream but it is rare.

[@rosagonzalez4847]

Thank you, at camp I kept hearing the "Who cooks for you". I always thought that was a great horned owl! I learned a lot with this short. Vid. Awesomeness!! 😊

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@rosagonzalez4847 that’s great!

[@brtscafsma77]

Im convinced the 1st Barred Owl you showed cooked for only himself. And he cooked a lot

[@BadgerlandBirding]

I think there's enough evidence to believe that might be the case

[@elwalker9034]

Excellent production. Love love love owls, and hawks. Never imagined mourning dove calls would be mistaken for owls, as I grew up with the doves around, but upon your mentioning I can easily see why a person might.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Yeah a lot of people still think they’re owls!

[@ashleefisher2072]

3am. Found this video because apparently I heard a Barred Owl when I let the dogs out and HAD TO KNOW

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Haha, glad you figured it out!

[@sarahnovotny2981]

Me too. It’s 4:15 am and I heard this annoying hoot over and over again outside my window. Couldn’t sleep anyway so thought I’d look it up lol

[@dhinson22]

Exactly the same thing here!! 2 Barred owls

[@mrsoupcangaming4478]

10:36 this video helped me convince myself there was no monkeys in my woods

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@mrsoupcangaming4478 that’s important. It definitely sounds primate-like

[@northerngal1009]

Great video! I was able to identify what we been hearing here, it’s a juvenile Great Horned Owl. I’m so glad you included that.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

It trips a lot of people up so we thought it’d be helpful :)

[@monotheis6889]

I live in the woods of northern MN, and have for decades. I love it when the owls "purse" their "lips" and say "who..." 😂😂😂

[@wendynordstrom3487]

I'm in Sacramento and i always get excited when i hear owls. I went out and recorded some great horned owls one evening. I don't let my cat or in the evening because i don't want her to become Owl food.😊 I look forward to moving back to the Midwest and doing some bird watching.

[@m.e.c.1007]

Cool, I just learned I've been talking to a great horned owl in the dead tree near my house! Thank you, this was a great video.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@m.e.c.1007 glad you enjoyed it!

[@meeschers]

Just heard a Eastern screech owl in front of my house. Your video helped confirm it.

[@0palOpal0pal]

I had one land on my front porch a while ago. I heard this high pitched squeaking keening sound, and I thought it was a fox, but when I looked out my window I saw the two biggest greenest and shiniest owl eyes staring at me. It was eating cicadas, it seemed like.

[@jcarey1983]

The barred owl in my neighborhood is very vocal at night😊

[@BadgerlandBirding]

As we prefer them!

[@Jennifer.Rose24]

Lol @ the mourning dove with all the red winged blackbirds in the background.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

lol yeah

[@alison5009]

Reminds me of my childhood!

[@evtheencyclopedia8945]

I got to hear a great gray owl vocalize this past winter

[@BadgerlandBirding]

That’s pretty epic. Not sure if I’ve ever actually heard one.

[@dustiestspade339]

I love the great horned owl, I'd hear them early morning during summer at my aunts house by ladybird lake with the sound from the massive trees

[@GreatGray8790]

Years ago in winter, I got to listen to Short-eared Owls barking at each as they hunted a field in a snow storm. Barred Owls caterwauling in the woods at night still the best though.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Definitely doesn’t even sound like an owl

[@motivationalpage3660]

Thank you for explaining some of these.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

You’re welcome!

[@BlinkinFirefly]

The screech owl is my favorite. But honestly I ADORE all owls

[@Jen_S_Hassler1258]

I've heard Great Horned Owls in the past, but just this part week, I discovered there's a pair of Barred Owls near me! I'm still hoping somewhat I'll hear a sweet lil Screech Owl, but I'm thinking I'm not north enough for them where I live. Maybe someday in my travels, I'll find one... Great video, Derek, thanks so much!!

[@UnknownSourceMaterial]

Thanks for much for including the mourning dove! I heard its call all the time growing up, but I never knew what the bird was. I always assumed it was an owl. Awesome video!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it

[@Onnabote]

I was alone with my dog in the Selkirks of northern Idaho last weekend. I may have been a little sensitive after we had a visit from a big ol' kitty early in the evening, but I had the unsettling pleasure of listening to a Great Horned Owl scream-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo at me for a half an hour after the sun went down. Predator encounters are pretty standard up here, but that sound is especially haunting when your only companion is a golden retriever and some giant bird is making ape sounds in the night.

[@theck672]

Very helpful thank you❣️

[@lorirober2536]

Excellent, clear video. Thank you much.

[@opercamcare]

thank you - i was trying to identify my morning serenader and while playing your video THEY returned. i think just barred owl but my husband gets lucky to see various including sawet - adorable

[@kwinslow88]

Seriously!! Thank you, the mourning dove was the answer for me!! I won't get fooled again 🎶❤

[@lissam4200]

Thank you for your video! I heard a great horned owl on my ring camera from last night. Now I know what kind it was.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Awesome, they have such a great call!

[@Jules-zg1ip]

Woke up at 5:00 am to a long eared owl (in northern WI) thanks for the video! Subscribed! 🦉

[@cathykrueger4899]

This was great. I just heard an owl and watched your video. It was a long eared owl. Not one I’ve heard before. Usually only hear the barred owl and screech owl. Have seen the screech owl in a tree during the day. Have also seen a light colored owl fly from the field into the woods during the late afternoon. Rural Mississippi.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@cathykrueger4899 congrats! Long-eared Owls are super cool!

[@NathanWebb-c5h]

I've seen great horned owls, barred owls, and an eastern screech owl in the wild. I really like great gray owls and snowy owls even though I've never seen them.

[@pammaynard9997]

Great video ,informative! All in all you have to listen hard to discern what owl your hearing because they sound similar, at least to me they do! I came here to see if I can identify a owl I hear in my back yard. They are truly beautiful and mesmerizing creatures. BTW, I don't know if everyone does this but when I hear an owl hoot I feel compelled to hoot back! Anyone else?

[@MrWildernessgirl]

Thanks! I hear Barred Owls almost every night (we live on lake with lots of trees). I was trying to identify the primate like calls to see if they were also Barred Owl. Your clip is exactly what I have been hearing.

[@TheRedGlint4427]

I always thought the morning dove was a wise owl outside my window now I’m sad

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@TheRedGlint4427 don’t be sad, it’s just a wise dove

[@lord_beethoven1169]

The mourning dove is probably the one I recognize the most.

[@tedtimmis8135]

Excellent information. Thank you!

[@77DSeven]

Thanks for the video!! I moved to far out area and I just heard the "who cooks for you" with a grawl and the end 😂 and I was thinking that's an odd dog bark so I started looking up animals and owls came in mind, this clarifies things for me.

[@jonnyc212121]

Who else is here because they just heard an owl they didn't recognize? I'm down here in Georgia and having listened to all of the calls from the hours that are most common in this area, I can only deduce that I was hearing a great horned owl. Normally it's a barred owl that I hear, and their call is so very distinctive that they're instantly recognizable to pretty much anyone who spends time outside at night in Georgia.

[@bridgetbean79]

Great Horned Owl. Yup. Those suckers woke me at 5:30am today haha

[@BadgerlandBirding]

That’s kind of their thing lol

[@mdevore548]

Great primer on owl sounds. Thanks.

[@erkayderky]

Thank you for this. I was so perplexed at what owl I was hearing that sounded like Al Pacino saying HOOWAHHH. Definitely a pair of barred owls. Also my favorite owl.

[@MsTiNa56]

Thank you for your awesome video!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@NanceySyvong]

I’ve been hearing great horn owls right in my backyard a lot in the past several weeks but last night there were loud whistling sounds similar to human whistle… would you be able to help me identify what kind of bird it is?

[@BadgerlandBirding]

I can give it a shot! If you have a recording you can send us an email: [e-mail]

[@NanceySyvong]

@@BadgerlandBirding I do will send to you shortly. Last night the owls came back so cool!🦉

[@fugitive_]

Thanks I have been hearing an owl for the last few nights and have been wondering wtf kinda owl it was. It is a great horned owl.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Glad we could help you figure it out!

[@Beryllahawk]

I am astonished to realize I have actually heard the Eastern Screech! Thought it was a tree frog though, ha! Thank you for this - great info!!

[@dan9809]

Do owls grab onto the tree bark and stay on the side of the tree or do they always use a branch to sit on? Can they climb up the tree without flapping its wings like a squirrel or cat?

[@BadgerlandBirding]

They actually can climb up trees, specifically young owls will do this. However they normally fly up to their perches.

[@P3axhesbl00k0-0]

I woke up at 5am, and i heard a strange "OOOooo" sound, and i knew this was an owl but didnt know which one, and i couldnt fall asleep without knowing, apparently it was a barred owl

[@toddsutton5672]

So im in southern mn, i heard a loud whooo one time, twice about 1 min apart. it was loud and it souned like it weighed 500lbs. each one lasted about 1 full second. Any ideas. its cold and dark out.

[@MaddoxLightning]

In the evenings, there is an owl outside, who calls after sunset. Only once each night- that I can hear. There is a single scream and then almost immediately a ‘who-who’ space ‘who-who’. I live in Sequim Washington. Any ideas? I’ve heard this for the last few weeks of winter. Around 6:00pm.

[@temoharri8848]

There are Barred Owls where I live.

[@sophiaandlucy2355]

Okay I need some help, I have a barred owl 100%. But recently I’ve been hearing one singular “hoo” every once in a bit. It sounds exactly like the long eared owl, however I don’t think it is in groups. I live near some woods, but they’re pretty sparse. Is it possible for both owls to be in the area? Is it really a long eared owl I’m hearing? (For location context I live near a thin strip of woods about an hour outside of Boston. In the woods we occasionally have deer and I’ve seen coyotes, but for the most part it’s small common forest animals like snakes, birds, squirrels, raccoons, ect.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@sophiaandlucy2355 Long-eared Owls love Tamarack trees or pine stands so it’s more likely if you have those. More than 1 owl species can live in a particular area. Great Horned Owls sometime make single hoots, and I think Barred could as well. Owls are goofy. How different is the tone of the hoot from the Barred Owl noises you’re hearing?

[@littlebigcomrade]

I heard this when I woke up in the middle of the night. It was extremely unsettling. It was the first time I heard an owl in my life. I live in a rural area so I find that surprising.

[@alison5009]

Have heard a Barred Owl at night in my neighborhood for a while…finally got to see it a couple of days ago! Just sitting out in the open perched on our fence. ETA: have not heard the more primate-type vocalizations yet.

[@lindaeshbach6494]

Thank you somuch for this video. Yes I had a disagreement with a neighbor one time that swore it was an owl, but I knew what a Morning Dove was. It was m8ce to hear some other owls. We are surrounded by woods and I often hear an owl but have never seen it.

[@HaarWuch]

Great information.

[@0hrench0hru]

If you want to hear barn owls at night in the winter but nowhere near a forest come to Harvey North Dakota between 9:00 and 11:00 p.m.

[@AudieTheMastiff]

I’m listening to two calling to eachother rn so I’m trying to ID them!! It’s the first one. Two GHOs calling to eachother. It’s like 4am. I could listen to animals in the evening all night.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

That checks out 👍

[@dennylogan8195]

I have never seen or heard an owl in my area but hopefully one day I will :-)

[@0palOpal0pal]

Omg! I've never heard a Great Horned owl in my area, only Barred Owls. But, I just heard the most stereotypical owl noises going _hoot hoot hoot, hoot, hoot hoot hoot,_ and I noticed that it sounded like two, talking to each other. One kept going _oooooooOOOOOOOooooo_ like a car in the distance. I made a deep whistle sound in my hands, and got an angrier sounding hoot back lol

[@wandamiller5344]

I heard something over by my creek last night and I think it was an owl. It was a screeching , cooing sound and rather loud. Let me tell you, I ran back into my house when it started. It was one scary sound.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@wandamiller5344 mammals make a lot of weird screaming noises too. Opossums can make some odd noises, especially if you’re not expecting it

[@kalinadesseaux8011]

THANK YOU

[@BadgerlandBirding]

YOU’RE WELCOME

[@duncanmacleod7210]

very interesting

[@KarenBenningfield-dp7cu]

Ive had the huge owls around for years. After a close friend died they hung out by my bedroom window at night a for 3 nights they hooted together very loudly for long periods of the night

[@Gromper7878]

THANK YOU. I heard screeching in my neighbor’s yard last night and it was pretty creepy. I think I heard a hoot too. I walked closer and a bird flew to a tree closer to me and kept screeching, then it flew to a branch directly above me and I got out of there because it felt threatening haha. Now I’m pretty sure it was a barn owl! It sounded like there might have been 2 of them. What’s their behavior like? The screeches were longer than in your example. Maybe it’s just the nature of the screech but they sounded angry. Would they have been defending something like a nest or prey and telling me to go away? Or maybe they were “arguing” with each other and one started to retreat?

[@JohnSmith-c6u7v]

I've heard the mourning dove millions of times and thought was an owl now I know

[@BadgerlandBirding]

What a prankster lol

[@JohnSmith-c6u7v]

@@BadgerlandBirding right ever since I was a little kid I thought that noise was an owl lol. Always hear it if your out in the country between 7 and 8 in the morning always

[@M1GarandMan3005]

That Eastern Screech Owl sounds like an Ostrich chick, which was used for one of the sounds for the Dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

That’s a great fact!

[@josie_mary]

I hear one in my backyard first time ever living here 20 yrs ago

[@jennieorrthomas5141]

Thanks!

[@gentrykoda]

A hawk un-alived a mourning dove that was ALWAYS coo-ing in the back of our house. 😢😢 It always perched on the very top branch of our neighbors tree right out in the open, for all to see. LOL And then one day, we saw bloody feathers falling from a tree. A hawk was having a mourning dinner. 😢💔 It is now eerily quiet in the mornings. I was so used to it waking me up in the mornings because it was SO LOUD! 😂 It was loud, but i miss it. 😢💔

[@bugjams]

I went out at night looking for owls. I heard what sounded like a Great Horned, the "hooo-hoo" call... and I quietly followed the source until I was at the tree I was sure it was on. Looked up with my flashlight and saw a tiny white owl with speckled brown spots and dark eyes. Looked like a Barred owl if anything. But surely that couldn't have been where the call came from...? It was almost note-for-note the distinctive "hoo-hoo" of a Great Horned, but the owl I found was tiny and white. Shorter than a foot tall. I was so confused.

[@JiffyJV]

4am - south/west Ohio: just about sh*t my pj’s, windows are open, suddenly one very loud and drawn-out screech, which gradually increased in pitch/tone (like from low-to-high, not the typical high-to-low) sounding like a fire truck siren blasting in my living room - then followed by several soft coo’s, then silence. Did a quick google search and this video comes up, but none of the owls in the video sound very much at all like what I just heard…

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Could definitely be a Barred Owl. They make some insanely terrifying noises that are variants of their usual sounds

[@nunyabisnass1141]

I came hear trying to identify what i heard last night, it was a screech owl. Last year we had a great horned land on rhe roof of my house and hoot. Those things are LOUD up close.

[@C_M_DRAKE]

Help, so i live close to neighbors who all have dogs. I have a fenced in area. I have chickens in a coop. We have a dog and cat. I was making food, and i heard what at first i thought was a cat. I went to open the back door and realized it actually sounded like a big whining dog right next to my coop. I brought a flashlight out there but didnt see anything at first. I stood outside and listened and the sound continued. I was so convinced it was the neighbors dog, but it was coming from their side of the yard and that didn’t make sense because they have a very small dog that wouldn’t make that noise. Then i thought, a coyote must be after the chicken, so as i approached it, i heard flapping in the trees and shined my light and it was an owl probably 10ft front me. Now i am trying to find the owl that makes that noise but nowhere online can i find it. I live in CT. Hopefully you read this lengthy description and respond because i am very curious to know if that owl was making the sound of a whining dog.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

If you didn’t hear it in this video, it’s possible the owl caught a rabbit or something that was whining or making some distress noise.

[@mary-kaitlinkent7112]

Hi! I’m in Alabama (off the coast), & I have something outside my window (2:30am) that sounds like one really long whoooooooooo then a pause & then another whoooooooooo. Not like a whooo whoo whooo but just one long whooooooooooooo ..what could it be?

[@davidnewland2461]

In the summer of2023 there was a mourning dove outside my window every morning i I'd wait for it before I started milling about in the morning.

[@sheenshmoney385]

Heard one last night in my back yard area

[@smiley12u]

I think I just heard Barred owls this morning! They did sound like primates! I'm like what the heck, sounded like flying monkeys! Until I saw them! So cute.

[@Jenkenn772]

So there's an Eastern screech owl in my yard at night... Are my cats safe back there at night?????

[@BadgerlandBirding]

A screech owl isn’t gonna go after an adult cat but for the sake of birds and your cats please keep them inside

[@tatasanchez8781]

Philippine Owl in Misamis Occidental screams loudly and horribly in the night but rarely comes out and it's hard to get a video because she will stop screaming if the Flashlight is on..

[@kimmcroberts4210]

Thx for vid but didn’t hear the call. Starts like a howler monkey or other monkey yelling then does the normal hoots. I live in MI among a lot of pine trees

[@BadgerlandBirding]

That sounds very much like a Barred Owl

[@maggiesfarm7970]

I have mourning doves in my yard and trees daily. They really don't sound like owls!

[@mallardducks3615]

Heard a great horned last night

[@dalelydiard4307]

I have 2 in my yard today after asking fir signs. Scratching though

[@dalelydiard4307]

Screeching

[@OntarioBirding7538]

I have only seen great horned and eastern screech owls. Possibly snowy and barn but I would be too inexperienced

[@ghostgirlasmr]

Eastern screech owl really says honk shoo…mimimimimi….

[@lsaucedo3697]

Bird sounds

[@leedee4968]

😮

[@leocatcruises]

Florida owls

[@lsaucedo3697]

Bird b aounds

[@RichardBaker-yk7jt]

i kiss

[@lonknight3197]

You need to clean up your recordings get rid of the background noise, already played a couple other channels owl sounds and you had the worst recording.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

If you could clean them up for us and then send them back it’d be greatly appreciated!

[@HaarWuch]

Great information.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Thanks for watching!