More creatures of the night

When you are out trick-or-treating this Hallowe’en and you hear a tu-whit tu-whoo noise, go carefully because it isn’t an owl.

It’s either another trick-or-treater lying in wait and armed with a hoot flute or it’s a pair of tawny owls having a conversation.

The female owl’s 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 which are enough to scare anybody out after dark on All Hallows’ Night.

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