Bird identity by sound

pawrick

Hi, have what sounds like two birds flying around my garden right now. Too dark to see them but one keeps coming near the window frightening the cat and may be landing on the roof. They are making a high pitch long sound like air coming out of a squeezed balloon as they circle around and are fast. Guessing they are owls as they seem larger than a crow in the dark but cant make anything else out. Any suggestions on what they could be? I have pigmy shrew and wild rabits in the garden and see other birds of prey during the day so there is food about. Will try to gather more info.

V_Moth

Young Long-eared Owls maybe?

pawrick

V_Moth wrote: »

Young Long-eared Owls maybe?

Have them recorded now just need to get to a pc to upload the file. Definitely two birds calling to each other. Cant find a match on youtube though. There is a small wooded area nearby where one was and the other one seemed to have settled in a tree in my garden. Im near Lough Ree in a v. quiet area so lots of wildlife about. What ever it was it was coming very close to the conservatory windows where the cat was but some of the young rabbits go under the decking beside it so that was probably the attraction.

cameramonkey

Jays?

pawrick

Couldnt upload the file today. Format and pc issues. Will try recording in an easier to upload format if they are about again tonight.

pawrick

cameramonkey wrote: »

Jays?

Dont think it was a jay. Going by the size as it flew beside the window it was crow size or larger. Hard to tell as I only saw its silhouette.

pawrick

Apologies for how faint it is but they weren't as near as last night. You can hear one bird calling on the recording but there seemed to be two more even further away. Sounds are at 4, 8, 16 and 22 seconds in.

http://youtu.be/cy7bW_VA7pE

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Sorry, but I couldn't hear anything at all.

Bonedigger

Someone already mentioned it above,but it sounds like Long-eared owlets.

pawrick

Bonedigger wrote: »

Someone already mentioned it above,but it sounds like Long-eared owlets.

Thanks for the info. will do some googling on them so.Area seems pretty active with them at night and hadnt heard/noticed them before.

swifts need our help!

they usually nest in conifers

pawrick

swifts need our help! wrote: »

they usually nest in conifers

spotted that but none around here, all deciduous trees. Still though the sound at night matches what a juvenile one is meant to sound like so maybe they are young ones just left the nest which would also explain why I hadnt heard them until now.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

While predominantly nesting in confers, this is not exclusive. I had them in deciduous trees in my garden. They often use old woodpigeon nests.

pawrick

Yep there are wood pidgeon here alright with open farmland surrounding the small wooded areas (overgrown ringforts). Pity I didn't get to see it properly though as I've never seen a wild owl.

Thanks for all the help everyone btw I know I was being very vague with the details.

petertgtt

"Dont think it was a jay. Going by the size as it flew beside the window it was crow size or larger. Hard to tell as I only saw its silhouette"

"high pitch long sound like air coming out of a squeezed balloon as they circle around and are fast"

Buzzards?

Bonedigger

petertgtt wrote: »

"Dont think it was a jay. Going by the size as it flew beside the window it was crow size or larger. Hard to tell as I only saw its silhouette"

"high pitch long sound like air coming out of a squeezed balloon as they circle around and are fast"

Buzzards?

I can only hear Long-eared owlets to be honest.

petertgtt

just listened to the youtube clip. yep they sound like young long-eared owls.

pawrick

Yep happy that they are long eared owls. The better clip I cant post is identical to clips of juvenile ones on youtube. Just needed to be pointed in the right direction to compare. There are 3 distinctive birds I can hear at night spread out around the fields nearby. Nice to have them around.

googsy

Hi Pawrick

I've listened to your youtube clip. These calls are from Barn Owls. I've three of them at the back of my house in a field at the moment with the exact same call and I've seen the two adults clearly from roughly 10 meters away perched and calling with the exact same call.. I can only assume they are training their youngster on hunting and flying techniques I hope you get to see them...

Googs

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

They sound like Long Eared owls to me - also our most common owl.

googsy

Annabelle Freezing Pebble wrote: »

They sound like Long Eared owls to me - also our most common owl.

I always understood Barn Owls to make a harsh shriek type noise... until I was hunkered down and looking at the Barn Owls making that soft sound that was in the youtube clip... the automatic light was on at the back of my house shining on them and these were definitely Barn Owls clear as day..

Long Eared owls have a similar call ? I've never heard the call of a Long Eared owl but have seen them around the place..

Bonedigger

Here's a link where you can compare Barn Owl calls with those of a Long-eared Owl: http://duhallow.blogspot.ie/p/have-you-heard-owl.html