The sound was unmistakable and led me outdoors to face the thick woods across the road. In the advancing twilight the sound pierced the darkness again, and then again. The ghostly mournful wail, best ...

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Q. Why are they called screech owls when the only sound I’ve ever heard them make are warbling noises that remind me of musical Morse code? A. I was able to answer this question a few years ago during ...

This past summer I heard my first screech owl. My son, who majored in mythologies of nature in college was excited to hear this. He told me about how entwined screech owls are with our feelings about ...

Though common and widespread, it is rarely seen. More often it is heard. I’m speaking of the Western Screech Owl, the Coachella Valley’s smallest owl. Standing only eight inches tall and weighing in ...

OK, that's not actually a bird whistling reveille. But when we invited people to send us sounds of nature, we heard sounds that were distinctive enough. [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: In the audio of ...

Owls are more often heard than seen. In New York, there are eight species of these interesting raptors, with the majority most active at night. Some live here year-round, some are migratory. They ...

“It was the strangest sound I’ve ever heard. Spooky. Late at night, out in the woods, moving fast through the trees. I have it on tape. Would you like to hear it?” I stood in my safe little kitchen ...