Tu-whit tu-whoo

Thanks to Sarah Gould for reminding us that the tawny owl’s classic tu-whit tu-whoo noise is, in fact, made by two birds in conversation.

The female call is tu-whit:

Audio by Trevor Fletcher (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) xeno-canto.org

The male calls back, tu-whoo:

Audio by Richard Dunn (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5) xeno-canto.org

Together, in conversation, they sound like a single bird calling tu-whit tu-whoo:

Audio by Dann Alder (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) xeno-canto.og

Both male and female also make loud alarm calls:

Audio by Simon Elliot ((CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) xeno-canto.org

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