Travel3 mins ago
A noisy night bird!
7 Answers
It was about 4am just last night, and I heard a very loud repeated "ee-yoo ee-yoo ee-yoo" call. The "oo" sound was distinctly higher than the "ee". I have absolutely no idea what this was. Any ideas?
Answers
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.If you are in the UK then there could be two possibilities, both of them owls unless it's an early Vixen having a scream.
The Barn Owl can more than likely be discounted (do you agree NF?) as it's not called the 'Screech Owl' for nothing - and it's a bird of the open country.
The Tawny Owl is the most likely contender as it's fairly common in towns now and the male has a wonderful atmospheric hooting song, much used in horror movies. He starts off with a 'hoo', followed by a pause, then a 'hu, hoo-oo' all shaky and quivery at the end.
The Little Owl makes a sound that is nearest to the two notes you descibe. The male gives a high-pitched questioning hoot with an upward inflection. It is a country dweller, but is also in towns.
Yes, I'm in the UK, in a rural area. Sorry I should have said.
I don't think it was a Tawny Owl. I would have recognised it. I think the Little Owl is probably the most likely candidate by the sound of it. I wonder if I can find a recording of the call somewhere on the internet.
Thanks for all the ideas everyone!
This is a very good owl site with all the different species - and the sounds:
http://www.owlpages.com/species/owl_calls.html