Alice the Great Horned Owl is a permanently injured owl who works at the Houston Nature Center in Houston, MN and lives with her handler, Karla Bloem. Rusty and Iris are Great Horned Owls that are both blind in their right eyes and cannot live in the wild. Rusty and Iris are breeding in captivity as part of Karla's vocal study on Great Horned Owls. All together they have led to the creation of an International Owl Center in Houston, MN and an International Festival of Owls.
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Listen to the Owlets' squawky hoots! 10:38 pm, 4-2-13
This is a GREAT catch by rose and other chatters on the late shift last night. Rusty and Iris were agitated and hooting with Rhett and Delilah, the wild resident pair, and owlet #1 started doing her own little "hoots" (except they were squeaks more than anything.) But the vocalization is in the exact correct pattern for a hoot...a female hoot just like her mom! If I had only seen it once or twice I would have thought it was a coincidence, but she went on and on. At the end of nine minutes, owlet #2 chimed in...again with a rhythm just like her mom. It'll be interesting to hear how their hoots develop, but at this point, since they did the rhythm right from the first moment, I would say I'm 90% sure that the first two owlets are girls.
As always, a huge thanks to EmmieJan for capturing, editing, and posting these video highlights! Thanks also to the mods critter, maxi, rose, and merli, and to everyone who is watching closely, submitting observations, and helping significantly with this research.
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Well this is just the kind of "stuff" your research is after! I bet you are having one heck of a good Spring! :-)
ReplyDeleteBaby hoots! Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting. I have never heard this before. What next for this groundbreaking project?
ReplyDeleteI viewed the OKC owlets this year for many an hour, and one night Mom & Dad both hooted while away from the nest, but close enough to be heard clearly. One of the owlets hooted back, consistently using a male pattern hoot [a series of 4 hoots]. The hooting went on for a couple of minutes, and not once did I hear a female pattern hoot from the owlet. Now, of course this is all anecdote and pure speculation, but I couldn't help wondering if the owlet might be male. We won't know, but the results of your research, Karla, will be interesting on this aspect of vocalizations!
ReplyDeleteSomeone directed me to this video of the owlet hooting with/to/at Mr. & Mrs. T. also. Amazing stuff!
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