 As
summer draws to a close, the owlets are starting to practice the adult
calls that they must master to get along outside their parent's territory.
These are the calls that will allow them to communicate with other barred
owls as they search for vacant territories and --in a couple of years --
for their own mates. Just before dawn this morning, June spent almost two
hours urging one of the owlets on as it attempted to do a classic hoot.
The low pitch of the youngster's attempts put it clearly in the range of a
male, but there is no way to know whether it was Emmett or Ernie. Each
sequence starts with a wailing call from June and is followed by a classic
hoot attempt by the juvenile. In this first
sound clip, the owlet's response sounds more like a poorly
executed monkey call, but in the second
clip (many attempts later) he is getting
very close to an adult classic hoot. These practice sessions
should continue until all of the young owls have mastered the basic calls
and leave their parent's territory. It is quite possible that some of them
have already done so. Meanwhile, Ward (shown here) is enjoying the easy
days of late summer as he watches the preparations from his high perch. I
find it comforting to know that life goes on as before for this owl
family. |