BirdNote; Night Voices of Summer

BirdNote®

Night Voices of Summer

Written by Bob Sundstrom

[Song of Veery]

This is BirdNote!

At the close of a summer day, the songbirds go silent. A Veery’s final notes reverberate in near darkness.

[Song of Veery]

And as if on cue, the true birds of the night now make their voices known.

[Eastern Screech-Owl]

In an Eastern woodland, the eerie trills and whinnies of an Eastern Screech-Owl are among the first sounds of the night.

An Eastern Screech-Owl is petite, standing just under nine inches tall. Mates trill to one another during courtship, and whinny to defend territory.

[Eastern Screech-Owl]

Meanwhile, as night falls west of the Rockies, a different pair of small owls combine voices, hooting a rhythmic duet: [Western Screech-Owls]

These night singers, Western Screech-Owls, are found in low-elevation woodlands and deserts.

But there’s another bird whose voice will drown out the loudest of screech-owls.

[Pair of Barred Owls hooting back and forth]

These are the rhythmic hoots of a Barred Owl, a large, stocky bird of forests, swamps, and suburban parks. Pairs may break into a rollicking duet, sometimes called their “monkey call."

[Barred Owl monkey call]

For BirdNote, I’m Mary McCann.

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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Adult Male Veery 94386 recorded by Wilbur L Hershberger. Eastern Screech-Owl 20427; Eastern Screech-Owl 20434 recorded by Hugh P McIsaac. Western Screech-Owl Male and Female Pair 109017 and Barred Owl Pair recorded by Geoffrey A Keller.

BirdNote's theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.

Producer: John Kessler

Executive Producer: Dominic Black

© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org August 2018 Narrator: Mary McCann

ID# song-09-2014-08-09 song-09