January 2, 2007 Greene County Between 7:00 and 8:00 this evening, I heard a Great Horned Owl calling at Tusculum College. GHOW has been known to nest on campus for over a decade, so I wasn't surprised to hear an owl calling, but I was surprised by this particular call--one of the infrequently heard screams that the species gives. The call was somewhat nasal, more so than some of the GHOW screams I've heard before. (It was not comparable to any Barn Owl call that I've ever heard, though, and I'm quite confident that the sound was not made by a member of this species. Both my own experience and the literature I've consulted bear out this conclusion.) Considerable variation has been documented in the scream calls of GHOW, so the call I heard is probably within the range of expectable occurrences. Some sources suggest that these scream calls tend to be given by juveniles or immatures. If this is the case, then the possibility of a young GHOW in early January is more intriguing. The species nests very early, around this time of year or a little later, so last year's young should be well past the juvenile stage now. Perhaps calls associated with the juvenile stage tend to persist in somewhat older birds. I would appreciate feedback on this. Any thoughts? Don Miller Greeneville, Greene Co., TN pandion@xxxxxxxxxxxxx =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________