OWL!

Over the last couple of years we have noticed an increase in owl vocalizations in our neighborhood, primarily at night as one would expect. When we first moved to this neighborhood (15 years ago?) I don't remember any owl sounds at all. So imagine my surprise one recent morning as I was trying to rush out the back door on my way to work when I looked out my kitchen window and saw an owl sitting on the bird feeder post.

(taken through the screen and glass)

I opened my back door to be able to take a better picture and he/she flew to the tree and looked back at me.

This is an enlarged as I could get the picture without it getting too pixelated.

Although several species of owl migrate through South Carolina there are only four species of owl that live and breed here year round. Below is a brief description of the barred owl which matches this fellow perfectly, including the  "who-who-who-who, who-who-who-whoowha" sound we hear every night. (It's only about 7:15 pm and an owl is hooting right now!) The excerpt comes from  hiltonpond.org. Bill Hilton is well known in this area, was a local high school biology teacher, and runs The Hilton Pond Center which serves to conserve animals and plants in this area and allows for study and research. In fact when I was studying to be a biology teacher I subbed for his classes for three weeks when he went on an expedition to Australia.

Barred Owl
Of all owls found in the state, the Barred Owl (Strix varia) is seen most often because it is "crepuscular." This means it is active in twilight hours of dusk and dawn, and sometimes in broad daylight. Named for its breast markings, this large owl is the only Carolina species with dark eyes; all the rest have yellow irises. Barred Owls also have the most recognizable call, a "who-who-who-who, who-who-who-whoowha" that most people translate into "who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all." Barred Owls are especially vocal during courtship when, in the words of Allen Eckert (The Owls of North America, Weathervane Books), there are "specialized calls made with relative infrequency which virtually defy written description. Some are coarse, guttural, and, to human ears, almost uncouth in character. Others are much like the fierce, hair-raising shrieks of mating alley cats. There are deep chucklings, harsh laughing sounds, maniacal gibberings and gabblings, disconsolate mutterings, howls, and yells. Occasionally there will even be a decidedly disconcerting humanlike scream of pure agony." Such vivid description explains why my friend Russ Rogers Jr. barely slept for the three months it took a Barred Owl pair in his Fort Mill backyard to court and then raise offspring. Barred Owls are most common in wooded bottomlands and swamps.

This is what the owl sounds like: