What does the Flammulated Owl sound like at night?
Press play. If that is the sound outside, you have your answer — the Flammulated Owl's "boo... boo... boo...".
What you're hearing
A low, mellow hoot repeated every few seconds. It sounds ventriloquial—almost like it is coming from deeper in the forest than it really is.
“boo... boo... boo...”
Birders often file this one under Territorial hoot.
What time of night you hear it
Full dark on summer nights in western montane pine forest.
This owl is mostly nocturnal and easiest to find by ear on warm spring and summer nights. It arrives late in spring, breeds in summer, and often departs again by early fall.
Why a Flammulated Owl calls at night
A single, deep, ventriloquial hoot repeated every few seconds — startlingly low for an owl the size of a soda can, and almost impossible to pin down in space. It is a long-distance migrant, so the sound is a summer-only feature of western pine forests.
What else could it be?
The other voices you are most likely to hear in the dark. Play them and compare.