From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Wed Sep 15 19:19:19 2004 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i8G2GlwX014975 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 15 Sep 2004 19:16:48 -0700 (PDT) Received: from sccrmhc12.comcast.net (sccrmhc12.comcast.net [204.127.202.56]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id i8G2G41c014933 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 15 Sep 2004 19:16:05 -0700 (PDT) Received: from pattyslaptop.stanford.edu (c-24-6-158-11.client.comcast.net[24.6.158.11]) by comcast.net (sccrmhc12) with SMTP id <200409160216030120079a6ve>; Thu, 16 Sep 2004 02:16:03 +0000 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Sender: [[email protected]] (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.0.1.1 Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 19:07:28 -0700 To: [[email protected]] From: Patty Ciesla <[[email protected]]> In-Reply-To: <[[email protected]]> References: <[[email protected]]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [SBB] chipmunk vs. owl vocalizations X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5b1 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]] Last year there was some interesting discussion about owl vocalizations sounding like chipmunks. I have been noting two different populations of chipmunks in Byrne Preserve in Los Altos Hills on my daily walks with the dogs. One group has been hanging out in the Himalayan blackberries near Hidden Villa. There is another group much further up in the creekbed hidden in some snowberries and poison oak under a broken canopy of live and valley oaks. Today, after scolding us as we passed by in the metalic, high pitched alert chips I've always associated with these cute mammals, the call changed to a lower-pitched tooting, like a small owl. Same exact place. I turned back, curious. Then I got scolded with the other call again. Hmm. Very interesting! I wasn't aware that chipmunks had more than one vocalization. Patty At 08:33 PM 10/3/2003, Bill Bousman wrote: >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/imahorse%40stanford.edu > >This email sent to [[email protected]] _______________________________________________ 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]]