Please help me identify the birds i have screaming through the night - it is a blood curdling, child like scream.
I have seen a similar post that seems to be identified as the Barking Owl but i have listened to the recording of the Barking Owl's calls and they do not sound the same, not even similar.
The bird is quite tall approx 100cm, it is white with grey/brown markings and has owl like eyes. They always seem to be in pairs and are very aggressive in protecting their chick.
I live in the Cairns area.
I would realy appreciate any help.
Hi Sarah
You are obviously aware of the famous scream of the Barking Owl.
Here is a recording of the scream call, not the woof woof call.
http://www.owlpages.com/sounds/Ninox-connivens-4.mp3
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Here is a link to the "Owl Pages" website. Very valuable resource. Worth "bookmarking".
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http://www.owlpages.com/index.php
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Your description of the bird puzzles me slightly.
Tawny Frogmouth is a bit silvery, but its posture is totally different.
Owls sit straight up and stare at you.
Frogmouths do sometimes appear to look at you - if you catch them on a post - with the car headlights, but not during the day. They try to camouflage themselves, and look away, or side on, with eyes nearly closed.
Their call is a low "oom, oom"
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Check out recent images of Barking Owls on this forum.
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Cheers
Denis
Denis Wilson
www.peonyden.blogspot.com
Hi Sarah
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Another thought.
Barn Owl is a possibility - very white on front. If you get a good look, it is clearly one of that group of owls with the "masked face".
It makes a harsh screech, not a scream like a child.
But have a listen, anyway.
http://www.owlpages.com/sounds/Tyto-alba-3.mp3
Cheers
Denis
Denis Wilson
www.peonyden.blogspot.com
i dont suppose they are bush curlews ?
If it was a Bush Stone-curlew (they are sometimes called "Bush Thick-Knees") they would be walking around on the ground, in that case.
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/bird/91
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Surely such basic information (ground dwelling) would have been mentioned.
None-the-less, Joanneh's idea might well be right. It is certainly a possibility and is worth sorting out.
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They are relatively common in the north, I understand, (in the absence of Foxes which have virtually wiped them out south of the Tropic of Capricorn).
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The call is a protracted scream, and it builds into a frenzy. Often several birds "chorus" together.
Listen to this mp3 file
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/bushStoneCurlew.mp3
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Interested to find out what you have heard.
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Cheers
Denis
Denis Wilson
www.peonyden.blogspot.com
I also was going to suggest Bush-stone curlews. They often scream around our house in the middle of the night, and yeah, like Denis mentioned, several often scream at the same time. The noise is truly incredible!
Thanks all - I believe my bird is indeed a Bush Stone Curlew, Its sounds almost identicle to the amazing noise i hear each night.
My apologies for not having mentioned it was ground dwelling, i had only caught site of it a couple of times (its usually just the noise i notice!) and i only gave info i was absolutly sure of.
I feel much better for being able to identify my bird - Thank you all again.
Sarah.
good to be able to know what it was Sarah, i know the first time i heard them i thought someone was being murdered !!!
we have been hearing this same scream! It really seemed as if a child was having a crying fit ! I can hear more then one so it must be a call from one to another. very errie sound for sure.I thought owls or Turkey buzzards even hawks ,although we do have all of them in the area i just would not be good enough at identifying their sounds.Very interesting :)
One note,I hear these at night only and up high in trees,but the sound seems to not be in the area that we thought,as we walked all around the swimming pool at the park it ehcoed with in the emty pool and about hum dont know but there in trees some where!
If it's a scream, it's probably a barking owl.
Sarahmc did they look like this, it may help.
Regards
Shane
I did listen to the barking owl sound although it didn't sound that way it was much more intense ,altough it could of been radiating off the empty pool. BUt the first thing i thought was an owl of some sort! :)
Funny story, when we were living in Goomalling WA the people we rented from lived about a kilometer away, basically on the other side of the road but it's farms. I was so certain that someone was being murdered, I actually took one of my firearms to investigate!! (I kid you not) only to find no one home!!........now not a lot makes me uneasy, but the hair on the back of my neck was begining to raise. I looked around the property and in the home, but nothing, no bodies, no white eyed lunatics covered in blood and neither did I hear the noise again..........until I was back at home laying in bed. Now I need to paint this picture, I was a 45 y/o father of 4 gorgeous children, laying in bed and armed, I am a big guy (120kg) that has not often been on the loosing end of a fight and I have an IQ of 128!! I went back the next day with every muscle tensed to find out what the f#@k was being killed, only to be told by the owners (who were now back home) that it was an owl !!!! I have listened to the Barking Owl many times, but have never heard anything as penetratingly horrifying as the noise I heard that night.
Scary stuff indeed, gavbarny. I imagine you lost a few kilos of sweat that night!