Owls

[whiskeryron]

Our dog went crackers again last night ( early hours) when hearing an Owl hooting. My question is why do Owls hoot ? If they are the silent killers we are told they are, surely to hoot would give away their position to any prey in the area & warn them off.

[Old_Geezer]

They know all the good jokes.

[MallyJ]

They do like to chat to each other over the hedge ........... but are silent when hunting.

[Old_Geezer]

My guess is they they hoot when mating or maybe even territory reaffirming; but are more silent when hunting.

[chanel5]

Some interesting info here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/expert/previous/owlhoot.aspx

[Chipchopper]

Yep, wooing a mate Too-wit-too-Woo!

[Clanad]

Or… establishing territory. Here in the rural western U.S., when one hears one owl hooting it's usually not long until hearing another one… or more. Neighbors large barn about 1/2 mile away seems to the focal point of the territory dispute...

[ladybirder]

Yep, just calling to each other. Wonderful to listen to them when lying in bed at night. One calls Too Wit (hello anyone there?) and the other replies To Woo (I'm here). Lovely.

[Old_Geezer]

The female calls the male a twit. The male respond, "Who ?"

[hc4361]

As Karl Pilkington said - if all they're going to do is sit on a branch hooting all the time, why can't they do it in the day?

[Chipchopper]

Maybe they should just get a room

[Peter Pedant]

why do birds sing ?
whilst sir ponders such things, would he like a little muzak ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRZYa7TBDw8

[ladybirder]

Some do though. The Little Owl that used to sit on the branch of an Oak tree near me would often call during the day. And I've seen Short-Eared owls floating over the Dales and then sitting on a dry stone wall and calling when I have been driving "over the tops" as we call it, during the day.

[Peter Pedant]

sorry animal lovers there has been a wholesale invasion from Chatterbank
not to obvious advantage

[ladybirder]

Immigrants huh!

[wildwood]

The 'silent killer' tag no doubt stems from when it swoops in for the kill. The fringes on an owl's flight feathers makes it's flight near silent. Most other birds have rigid edges to the flight feathers which gives more streamline but makes a whistling noise as it moves through the air in flight, this makes the familiar noise when pigeons etc. fly.