Do owls hoot when they are hunting?
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Guest
I asked my husband the same thing. One afternoon around 2 pm central time I heard one hooting. It carried on for over half an hour. Now, I thought they were nocturnal, so I was surprised to hear one in the middle of the afternoon. Apparently they can be disturbed at any time of day or night. Maybe they do a mating ritual when the thought hits them?ben_wood wrote:This morning about 4:00 as I was preparing to go to work I heard an owl hoot every 2 to 3 minutes. Do these predators hoot during hunts or do they go "stealth mode"?
I would think though, when they are hunting they would be silent. So, maybe it was calling for a mate or a fledgling? I wonder, there is probably more info available on owls and their habits.
Peg (usually quiet)
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Guest
Owls call to identify territories, to signal mates, etc.. I have the Barred, Great Horned and Screech Owls on my property. Out of those 3 species, I hear the Great Horned Owl the most. Then the Barred second with the Screech Owl being last.
When they are actually hunting, they are completely silent. Matter of fact, an owl's feathers are designed to give it silent flight so that it can capture prey by stealth. With a normal bird in flight, air rushes over the surface of the wing, creating turbulence, which makes a gushing noise. An owl's wings have a comb-like feather edge. This characteristic breaks down the turbulence into little groups called micro-turbulences. This effectively muffles the sound of the air rushing over the wing surface and allows the owl to fly silently.
Owl's will however let out a screech after they initially sink their talons into the prey they just caught. I am guessing this is part of a fear factor to further shock it's prey to surrender. I have Southern Flying Squirrels on my property, not as many as I used to though. I feel this Great Horned Owl that lives on my property has caught quite a few. I could be wrong though, flying squirrels are very secretive, but I know I don't see them at night coming to my sunflower seed feeders like I used to.
When they are actually hunting, they are completely silent. Matter of fact, an owl's feathers are designed to give it silent flight so that it can capture prey by stealth. With a normal bird in flight, air rushes over the surface of the wing, creating turbulence, which makes a gushing noise. An owl's wings have a comb-like feather edge. This characteristic breaks down the turbulence into little groups called micro-turbulences. This effectively muffles the sound of the air rushing over the wing surface and allows the owl to fly silently.
Owl's will however let out a screech after they initially sink their talons into the prey they just caught. I am guessing this is part of a fear factor to further shock it's prey to surrender. I have Southern Flying Squirrels on my property, not as many as I used to though. I feel this Great Horned Owl that lives on my property has caught quite a few. I could be wrong though, flying squirrels are very secretive, but I know I don't see them at night coming to my sunflower seed feeders like I used to.
Thanks for the replies. The last of my colony have recently fledged and there is only one family set that is still returning to the site in the evening to stay overnight. I have yet to see any evidence that owls have attcked my site and was hoping that this last family group will be safe. I am going to convert the Trio to deep compartments over the winter and change out the door openings to excluders. The SuperGourds that hang below the house will be modified with excluder doors with interior and exterior porches from Sandy Bunn. I felt like it would be somewhat maladaptive for owls to hoot a lot while they are hunting, and although I'm sure the martins didn't enjoy the sounds maybe they were safer.