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.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Chirps...?
Great Horned Owls make all kinds of sounds we don't expect. Yes, they sneeze. They also make a soft, short squeaky sound when they stretch a wing and leg sometimes. But chat room moderator rose noticed a different kind of sound: a short "chirp" that is given just as an owlet starts to fly.
I'm not sure if its only one owlet doing this, but I don't think its all of them since otherwise I think we'd hear it a lot. But some nights when she's doing her late shift of observations she notices it several times. What does it mean? I have absolutely no idea. I'm certain this sound has never been recorded or described before, so let's watch to see if it's only one owlet, all the owlets, if it's always given when they start flying, or any other details of what's going on.
Thanks rose for catching this so many times!
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I wonder, is this a grunt associated with the physical effort of launching into flight...like an athlete exhaling with physical exertion?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a possibility, but if so, I would expect all of the owls or owlets to do it at times.
DeleteInteresting! The little eastern screech owl I work with does the same thing. He can't fly (he has severe MBD and doesn't have all his feathers), but he likes to jump around a lot, and he makes a little chirpy squeak as he's launching himself off the perch/glove/ground.
ReplyDeleteThe other eastern screech owl I work with doesn't do that. Her wings work just fine and she would be able to fly if she weren't mostly blind. She doesn't chirp/squeak when she bates from the glove.
Maybe the chirp is an individual thing that some birds do and some don't, or something they do if they aren't very strong yet (greater physical exertion)?
Very interesting observation Laura! Thanks for posting it. Birds are certainly individuals.
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