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  • Home
  • Programs and Events
    • Virtual Owl Expert Speaker Series
    • Owl Prowls
    • International Owl Awareness Day
    • Special programs
    • Breakfast with the Owls
    • Virtual Programs
    • Festival of Owls
    • School and Group Programs
  • Future Plans
    • Design concept contest gallery
  • Our Research
    • Research Basics
    • Live Cam
    • Hear Individual Owls
    • Types of Great Horned Owl Vocalizations
    • Great Horned Owl Growth Chart
    • Background Info >
      • History of Rusty and Iris
      • What will happen to Rusty and Iris's young?
      • Owl Glossary
      • Great Horned Owl Facts
    • Blog
  • DIY Activities
    • What kind of owl are you?
    • Crafts
    • Dissecting Owl Pellets
    • Build an Owl Nest Box
    • Coloring Pages
    • Puzzles
  • I found an injured owl!
    • What do I do?
    • Find a Rehabber
  • Owls and You
    • Joggers and Owls
    • Live an Owl-Friendly Life
    • Respectful Owl Photography and Observation
    • Owls as Pets
    • Owls Attacking Pets
    • Owl Myths and FAQ
  • Visit Us / About Us
    • Visit
    • Our Owls
    • Staff and Board
    • History
  • Support Us
    • Memberships
    • Donate
    • Founder's Circle
    • Other Ways to Help
  • Educator Resources
    • Education Methods
    • Assessing Impact
    • Regulations
    • Workshop Summary
    • Resources
    • Links
  • Owl Conferences
    • Future Conferences
    • Past Conferences
    • Conference Planning
    • E-Newsletter
  • Ukrainian Art for Ukrainian Kids
  • Kids' Art Contest
  • Store
International Owl Center

Great Horned Owl Vocalizations

Most people know that Great Horned Owls hoot. But most don't realize that there are several types of hoots, plus a variety of chitters, squawks, hisses, and bill clacking also in their repertoire. The International Owl Center is working to record the complete vocal repertoire of the Great Horned Owl along with associated behavioral context, which is why they have been breeding a non-releasable pair of owls in captivity.

All evidence points to vocalizations in owls being hard-wired, not learned, so their vocalizations in captivity shouldn't differ from owls in the wild.

So far these are the types of vocalizations that have been documented:

HOOTS
Territorial
Greeting
Emphatic, sometimes with single squawks
Hoot without the last note
Hoot with an additional note at the end
​Staccato

CHITTERS
Clucky
Conversational
Annoyed
Screaming

SQUAWKS
Quiet
Single
Double
Multiple
Begging
​
NON VOCAL
Hisses
Bill Clacking

Click here for our preliminary research paper on Great Horned Owl vocalizations for more detail. A more thorough paper will be published in the future.

Hoots

Chitters

Squawks

Non-vocal Sounds


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International Owl Center
126 E Cedar St.
Houston, MN 55943

(507) 896-OWLS (6957)
Karla@InternationalOwlCenter.org
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