•November 2, 2016•

“Birds of omen, dark and foul,” wrote Sir Walter Scott about owls, once considered harbingers of doom, death, and destruction. In Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches and an owl’s call meant someone was about to die.

Today, owls are considered to be creatures of beauty, wise and mysterious birds that are hunters of the night. Four species of owls are year-round Illinois residents, the barn owl, screech owl, barred owl, and great horned owl (also known as the hoot owl).

The barn owl occurs globally but was listed as Illinois-endangered in 1977 and is currently considered a threatened species in the state, according to Tara Beveroth, avian researcher and monitoring coordinator, Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS), Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.

Owls typically call most often at dawn and dusk, but on a clear, moonlit night with little wind, some may be heard calling periodically throughout the night. They are territorial creatures and use their calls to warn others to stay off their turf.

Each owl species has a unique call. Screech owl calls sound like a horse’s whinny, and the great horned owl, the bird of storybooks, produces the well-known hooting sound. The barn owl emits a blood-curdling scream in the darkness, and the barred owl’s call sounds like, “Who, who cooks for you”?     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.