What does the Boreal Owl sound like at night?
Press play. If that is the sound outside, you have your answer — the Boreal Owl's "poo-poo-poo-poo... like a tiny wooden flute keeping time".
What you're hearing
A long string of hollow, even notes on one pitch. Males can repeat it for minutes from a treetop on cold spring nights.
“poo-poo-poo-poo... like a tiny wooden flute keeping time”
Birders often file this one under Territorial Song.
What time of night you hear it
Late-winter and early-spring nights in northern and high-elevation conifer forest.
This owl is most active from dusk through the night. It gets much more vocal in late winter and spring, when males give their steady, hollow song from treetops.
Why a Boreal Owl calls at night
A rapid series of hollow toots given by males advertising a nest cavity — even in pitch, swelling in volume as the series runs on. It is a brief, seasonal window: outside late winter and spring, Boreal Owls are nearly silent.
What else could it be?
The other voices you are most likely to hear in the dark. Play them and compare.