Ben- Intriguing. I don't know if you'll ever get a definitive answer, of course, but despite a lot of experience with avians, I'm not convinced that's not a mammal. I don't think it's a cat, but a deer is an intriguing possibility. I recorded a deer in Santa Rosa NP in Costa Rica getting chomped by a coyote, and when that thing hollered, it sounded a lot like a goat, a very bleating sound. This is reminiscent of that, similar goat-like quality? I haven't heard many other deer vocalize, but this makes me think of that. Tough call. I don't have enough experience with long-eared owl to compare, though.
Jesse Ellis Madison, WI On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 7:44 PM, Benjamin Van Doren <bmvando...@gmail.com>wrote: > Hi all, > > I've attached an audio file of an interesting recording captured by a > flight call mic last August from a suburban wildlife preserve (Marshlands > Conservancy) in Rye, NY. The call sequence is reminiscent of Long-eared > Owl, but the various sounds produced in the recording vary considerably in > pitch, rhythm and apparent loudness. The couple people whom I have talked > to have differed in their opinions on the identity of the caller, with one > supporting Long-eared and the other suggesting mammalian identity, perhaps > a feral cat or white-tailed deer (of which there are large numbers in that > area). > > I was reminded of this recording when I heard a similar LEOW-like call > sequence at a Saw-whet Owl banding station last week. I was unable to > record any of those calls, though they did sound very much like the > Long-eared recordings I have listened to (less variable than the attached > recording). I don't have extensive experience with calling Long-eareds so > I'm not sure how often they vocalize in late summer/fall/winter and whether > their vocalizations become more variable after the breeding season. > > Any information on their behavior in this regard and any comments on the > recording would be appreciated. > > Sincerely, > > Benjamin Van Doren > White Plains, NY > > My first attempt to send this message bounced because of the attachment > size, so I've compressed it to MP3 format. Feel free to email me if you > would like the original higher-quality WAV file. > -- > *NFC-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> > !* > -- > -- Jesse Ellis Post-doctoral Researcher Dept. of Zoology University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, Dane Co, WI -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
