From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Fri Oct 3 20:25:01 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h943MIIC014917 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 3 Oct 2003 20:22:19 -0700 (PDT) Received: from albatross.mail.pas.earthlink.net (albatross.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.120]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h943LVZP014870 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 3 Oct 2003 20:21:31 -0700 (PDT) Received: from user-vcaut71.dsl.mindspring.com ([216.175.116.225] helo=pavilion.earthlink.net) by albatross.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1A5cyz-00078Z-00; Fri, 03 Oct 2003 20:21:25 -0700 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.2.1 Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 20:33:58 -0700 To: [[email protected]], [[email protected]] (SBB Chat Group) From: Bill Bousman <[[email protected]]> Subject: Re: [SBB] Northern Saw-Whet was really a Northern Pygmy Owl... In-Reply-To: [[email protected]] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Cc: X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.2+ Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] At 12:02 AM 10/4/03 +0000, [[email protected]] wrote: >Hi! >The Northern Saw-Whet Owl I reported on October 1, at Almaden Quicksilver >County Park was really a Northern Pygmy Owl. Or perhaps Merriam's Chipmunk. I've talked to a number of birder's who state that they can tell the difference between Pygmy-Owl and Merriam's Chipmunk vocalizations. Having heard both numerous times, I've found that such a distinction is beyond my capability. However, if one is confident . . . >Les Chibana was kind enough to point out that the Northern Saw-Whet Owl >usually hangs out in conifers (this on was in Oak Woodland type trees) and >he brought up timing of the "oops" it made. I checked in the "Guide to >Owl Watching in North America" by Donald S. Heintzelman, which states that >the voice is "a mellow, dove-like oooo uttered every couple of >seconds". This is exactly what I heard. The description for the Northern >Saw-Whet Owl is given as "an anvil-like tang-tang-tang-ing, a three-part >skreigh-aw skreigh-aw, hew-hew-hew-hew whistles, and other notes including >the famous "saw-filing" notes for which the owl is named" With all due respect to Heintzelman, there is no consensus as to which of two separate Saw-whet Owl vocalizations are the source of the name (see the Birds of North America account for a discussion). Both owls have multiple vocalizations, and with experience you may develop some confidence, but both have infrequent vocalizations which are difficult to describe and are confusing. The cadence of the calls is by far the best way to tell them apart. Whether you describe the Pygmy-Owl's notes as "took-took-took" and the Saw-whet's notes as "hew-hew-hew" they are almost identical bell notes to my ear except (sometimes) in cadence. The Pygmy-Owl is slower, about 1 per sec or every one and a half seconds, while Saw-whets are faster, sometimes 2 or 3 per second. Yet Pygmy-Owl will often start off with a fast call which sound like Saw-whet. When he finally slows down, you can think, whew, I got it this time. As Les notes, habitat can sometimes be helpful. Certainly our resident Saw-whets are mostly in coniferous forest, although wintering birds are in oak woodlands. When do wintering birds show up? Who knows. Do wintering birds call? Sometimes. More helpful, perhaps, is that Saw-whets are pretty nocturnal. I've not heard any claim of daytime calling. Although Jean did not state the time of day, if chickadees were active, then a calling owl would be a Pygmy-Owl . . . but don't forget Merriam's Chipmunk! Bill _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]