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Re: Probable Saw-whet Owl/ Saturday report, Santee area, SC






On Wed, 26 Jan 2000, Tim and Melanie Kalbach wrote:

 
> N. Saw-whet Owl 1 (heard only, various peculiar vocalizations I am pretty
> confident were Saw-whet, in direct and repeated response to my Saw-whet
> recording.  This was not within the NWR, but thick pine plantation near
> Dingle Pond area. Any additional info anyone might have concerning N.
> Saw-whet Owl calls would be appreciated.  I was playing a copy of the
> Peterson Western CD call which features a small series of the "tooting" call
> followed by two cat/sapsucker like raspy calls.  The bird responded several
> times with identical series of muted "whoop" notes, something like a very
> slowed down Least Bittern call: "whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop" etc.  Next, two
> significantly louder, two-note calls separated by about 30 seconds of
> silence and which could be described as hoots or whoops:  "hu-hoo" but
> lacking the quality of Barred or Great Horned hoots.  Finally, after much
> listening, flashlight scanning, etc. and no more of the hoot/whoop calls, I
> twice heard a low, almost Screech-Owl like whinny call that was not, in my
> opinion, a Screech-Owl, as I am very familiar with their vocalizations.
> This was more whining or catlike and clipped off short.  Anyone had similar
> experience with Saw-whet calls to corroborate or argue against my
> identification?)
> 
> Tim Kalbach
> Columbia, SC
> grebe@mindspring.com

Tim,

I've heard maybe a hundred or so Saw-whets responding to taped playback,
and tape-recorded quite a few of them. As others have pointed out, one
person's "syruppy zzzzchwunk" is another person's "soft chep," but
acknowledging that all we have to work with is your written
descriptions, I'll give you my perspective...

1.  identical series of muted "whoop" notes, something like a very
> slowed down Least Bittern call: "whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop

This doesn't sound familiar at all - the closest thing I can think of is
the tooting calls like what you had on tape.  Saw-whets give them at
different rates, sometimes speeding up, sometimes slowing down, but since
you don't even compare what you heard to the tooting on your tape...

2.  two
> significantly louder, two-note calls separated by about 30 seconds of
> silence and which could be described as hoots or whoops:  "hu-hoo" but
> lacking the quality of Barred or Great Horned hoots.

Again, this does not ring any bells.  

3.  I
> twice heard a low, almost Screech-Owl like whinny call that was not, in
my
> opinion, a Screech-Owl, as I am very familiar with their vocalizations.
> This was more whining or catlike and clipped off short.

Now we're talking - one of the most common ways Saw-whets respond to
playback in the winter is with whines, shorter than Screech owl whinnies,
but with some similarity in pitch (briefly rising, then falling for most
of the call).  The saw-whet whines do not quaver like screech-owl whinnies
(the only exception I've heard was once when a bird took flight while
calling and the effort of the wingbeats made its voice quiver).  But
overall, your description is a pretty good one of a Saw-whet whine:
whining, catlike, shorter than a screech owl whinny.  Another point in
favor of your having heard a Saw-whet is the vigourous response to a
saw-whet tape.  Other owls will occasionally "cross-respond," but it's
still a point in favor of the Saw-whet.

But the series of whoops and the double-noted hoots don't sound like a
saw-whet at all.  Screech Owls actually have calls more like that than
Saw-whets, although you only  rarely hear them away from the nest site.

Any hints that there might have been more than one owl around?

I'll have to go listen to a Least Bittern tape now - I don't have that
call in my head, and maybe it will help me understand your description
better.

Hope that helps.

Chris Hill
Coastal Carolina University
Conway, SC