Bubo virginianus
The Great Horned Owl is the deep, soft hooting of winter nights: a short phrase with a stutter near the start, hoo, h'HOO, hoo, hoo. Pairs answer each other, the female noticeably higher than the male. In summer and fall, the loud, squeaky shrieks coming from the trees at night are often its young begging for food.
“hoo, h'HOO, hoo, hoo (Who's awake? Me too.)”
Every sound the Great Horned Owl makes
4 sounds to learn, each with a recording.
Territorial Hoots
Low pitch · Phrase
Usually four or five deep, muffled hoots in a stuttering rhythm: a hoo, a quick double h'HOO, then two or three evenly spaced hoos. The tone is soft and breathy rather than loud, yet the notes are low enough to carry a long way. Each phrase copies the last almost beat for beat, and that repeated stutter is the thing to learn.
“hoo, h'HOO, hoo, hoo (Who's awake? Me too.)”
Year round, mostly at dusk, through the night and before dawn. Hooting builds in fall as owls claim territories, peaks from about November into January during courtship, and tapers off once eggs are laid.
Pair Duet
Low pitch · Phrase
A mated pair trades hooting phrases from nearby perches, sometimes overlapping. She is the bigger bird, but he has the larger voice box, so his hoots run deeper and hers sit higher. Two pitches going back and forth means a pair is holding that territory.
Mainly winter, during courtship before nesting, which starts as early as January in much of the country.
Begging Shriek
High pitch · Repeated
A loud, harsh shriek about half a second long, usually sliding up or down in pitch, with a squeaky edge to the rasp. Young owls repeat it from the same patch of trees, starting in the nest and keeping it up for months after they fledge.
Late spring through early fall, mostly from dusk on through the night.
Alarm Barks and Hisses
Mid pitch · Varied
Disturbed adults bark, hiss, scream and snap their bills with loud clacks, especially when a person or predator gets near the owlets. They also have a grab bag of odd whistles, coos and wavering cries that rarely get identified.
Mostly near a nest or young owls, late winter through summer, and whenever an owl is cornered or disturbed.
What to listen for
- Count the rhythm: one hoo, a quick stuttered double, then two or three even hoos.
- If a second, higher voice answers, that's the female, and you have a pair.
- Hooting is easiest to catch from late fall through February, around dusk and in the hour before dawn, when the wind is down.
- A gang of crows cawing hard at one tree and refusing to leave may have found a Great Horned Owl.
- In summer, the screamer in the trees is usually a begging young Great Horned, not a Barn Owl: its shrieks are short, squeaky and slurred up or down.
Birds that sound like the Great Horned Owl
By ear: Barred Owl's hooting is longer and more rhythmic: eight or nine notes in the familiar 'who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all', ending in a drawn-out final note. Great Horned phrases are shorter, flatter and stuttered near the start.
By ear: A Mourning Dove starts with a soft, sliding coo-oo, then adds two or three steadier coos, and it sings mostly by day from a wire or roof. Great Horned hoots are deeper, have no slide, and come mostly after dark.
By ear: Collared-Doves repeat a three-part koo-KOO-kook several times in a row, with a long middle note, usually in daylight from a pole or rooftop. Great Horned Owls don't repeat a three-beat pattern like that.
By ear: A Barn Owl's scream lasts a second or more on one flat, staticky pitch. A young Great Horned Owl's shriek is shorter and squeakier, and it bends up or down.
When and where you'll hear it
When
Most vocal from October to February, at dawn, at dusk and at night.
- Dawn
- Dusk
- Night
Where
Year round in every state except Hawaii, in almost any habitat with some trees, cliffs or tall structures: city parks, farm woodlots, deserts, swamps and mountain forests. Pairs stay on their territory all year.
- Yards
- Woods
- Open country
- Cities
- Desert
- Mountains
Practice the Great Horned Owl in the app
Practice the Great Horned Owl’s territorial hoots until you can name it without looking. Wings & Whistles plays it in 2 interactive listening lessons, mixed with the birds you’ll hear around it.
How to recognize the Great Horned Owl by sight
With its long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on daintier fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It’s one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics.
Similar-looking species (3)
- Barred Owl: No ear tufts; round-headed appearance. Barred Owls have dark eyes and a fully streaked/barred chest without a white throat patch. Their call is a rhythmic "who cooks for you" hooting, different from the Great Horned’s classic hoot pattern.
- Great Gray Owl: Larger in length but much less bulky, with a huge round gray head and no ear tufts. Great Gray Owls have small yellow eyes set in large facial disks and a relatively gentle, low-key "whooo" call. They favor boreal forests and meadows. Great Horneds have a more compact body, 'horns,' and bolder pattern with a white throat patch.
- American Barn Owl: A distinctly different owl with a white, heart-shaped facial disk, no ear tufts, and much smaller body. Barn Owls have black eyes and a pale golden-white overall appearance. Their call is a long harsh scream, unlike the hooting of a Great Horned.
Great Horned Owl sounds FAQ
Does the Great Horned Owl call at night?
Yes. After dark, the sound you are most likely to hear is its territorial hoots ("hoo, h'HOO, hoo, hoo (Who's awake? Me too.)"), though it is also heard at dawn and at dusk.
When does the Great Horned Owl call?
The Great Horned Owl is most vocal from October to February, mostly at dawn, at dusk and at night.