Winter owls enjoy making music

Blood-curdling sounds will startle some sleeping Corridor humans awake this winter. The noise may be terrifying but it is only an owl calling from a treetop.

Two common large owl species live in urban and rural areas and call on clear cold winter nights. They are easy to identify either by sound or sight.

Barred owls are the most common. They have alternating soft 'stripes” or bars of white and tan on their back and wings, lack hornlike ear turfs and have dark eyes. In contrast, the bigger great horned owls have bright yellow eyes and feather tufts that look like horns.

The calls of these two birds are distinctly different. Horned owls make the classic 'Whoo ... Whoo ... Whoo” sound, while barred owls sound more like 'whoo ... cooks ... for ... you?” Sometimes they bellow 'Rrrrrrrrrr” from a tree over the roof!

The two species have excellent night vision and hearing that helps them locate prey. Silent flight and powerful claws enable owls to catch their winter diet of small furry mammals. In summer, reptiles and insects add dining variety.

Amazingly, great horned owls begin nesting in January. Usually a few sticks are arranged on an abandoned squirrel or hawk nest high in a tree. Two or three eggs are laid in the coldest month of winter, and the female incubates them for 30 to 37 days. She's sometimes covered with snow as she patiently keeps her eggs warm. After the chicks hatch, the parents deliver furry delicacies to their babies until they are old enough to hunt on their own.

So, if an unusual sound from a treetop late at night awakens you, it's likely a resident owl making music.