The mammals were the most surprising ... deer, bobcat, raccoon, fox.

It is honestly amazing how owls can sound anything un-owl-like in nature. Plus, some of the other animals at night sound even spookier than they do!

I also don't think I ever heard a White-tailed Deer barking before, as I know other species are famous for producing some otherworldly sounds.

The night time can be spooky! Thanks for helping us identify who is out there. We think of deer and bobcats being asleep at night and it's a reminder that they are still awake. This was fun.

A couple of things surprised me the most: 1) Not recognizing birds that say their names, i.e., Southern Boobook and Eastern Whip-poor-will (we have the Common Poorwill in my area), and 2) Discovering birds and animals that are said to be in my county or nearby areas, but I have never seen, much less heard, i.e., Common Raccoon, Common Gray Fox, and Steller’s Jay. I checked eBird, but there have been no local sightings reported of Steller’s Jay, though the jay has been reported in surrounding counties.

I think the deer surprised me the most; I did not know they made that sound! The Sooty Owl threw me off the most. Only because of this course was I able to guess some of the species correctly, like the Southern Boobook and Eastern Screech-Owl, and could tell a couple of them weren't owls. That was fun! Where I live in Idaho, we typically hear Western Screech-Owls with an occasional Great Horned Owl.

I'd say the deer surprised me the most from the clips. Also the saw whet owl. I have to start paying attention more to what owls live here in Kentucky. It'd be fun to be able to identify them.

Many owl sounds did surprise me and some made me laugh. Although I did not always identify an owl call; I was able to identify all but 2 animal calls. For me, of the owl calls, here are some of my highlights:  Spotted Owl sounded like a small barking dog; Eastern Screech Owl like a bad vibrato; Estern Barn Owl like a Red-Shouldered Hawk with a bad cold; Sooty Owl sounded like a wind-up toy. My favorite is the Barred Owl duet - very romantic.

The Barred Owls' duo sound was crazy. Their song is so well synchronized by both the male and the female, and it is very different from the other ones that I've heard in this course. I would love to hear it one day. Also, the Barn Owl's song is one of the weirdest for me, even though i've heard it many times already.

Somewhat better with Nort American owls than the others. Still need far more practice. Would be good if when I redo the sounds above that they would be shuffled so not in the same order

As at least one other person noted below, the mammal sounds were surprising

It was a humbling exercise as an urban dweller, I found it difficult to recognize most species. I did recognize some owls and made a good guess at identifying non-owl species but not necessarily correctly identifying the species. I was most confident identifying the pair of Barred owls. It is a sound that we hear regularly in our neighborhood. It was interesting to know that their call is to mark their territory. We have yet to hear them this year.

I have often mistaken a raccoon for an owl. Also, Night Herons make a weird sound, I'd love to compare it to the owl sounds. The bobcat is one I've heard at home, but had absolutely no idea what was making it! So thank you for including that! And growing up, I always called the Barn Owl a "screech owl" because of the sound it makes, and you've clarified that the Western Screech Owl (which I've also heard and mistook for a pygmy) is one I hear on occasion. Most frequently I hear Great Horned Owls (nightly) and Barn Owls (less frequently, but often).

Why do all 23 sounds have “error” so I can’t hear them?

What a fun exercise! I was surprised at the Sooty Owl, the Barn Owl, and the Short-eared Owl. Also the raccoon and the deer— I didn’t know they sounded like that! The only owl I’ve heard in our Seattle-area yard is the Barred Owl, so I recognized it. And the Steller’s Jay at the end of the exercise is a familiar sound in the neighborhood. :-)

The Sooty Owl sound is wild because it’s so different from the others. The Northern Saw-Whet is also unique and I wouldn’t have known that was a bird. I didn’t know white tail deer made a sound like that. And I was surprised that I recognized Boreal Owl sounds from movies. The quiz was fun to repeat a few times to see if I could remember them all!

I genuinely didn't know that white-tailed deer could make noise, much less that kind of noise, so that came as a big surprise.

None of them surprised me especially but my cats, George and Daphne, were highly alert during all of the owl sounds. I live in New York City and we almost never see or hear owls around here but we do hear a lot of other birds. My cats are used to hearing doves, pigeons, jays and crows. They certainly seemed to recognize the owl hoots, toots and screeches as bird sounds, even though they were unfamiliar.

We were most surprised by the sooty owl because it didn’t sound like a bird.

Some of the mammals surprised us as well - the gray fox and the white tailed deer.  We didn’t know they made those sounds.

My son (who is also completing this course with me) has heard a tawny bellied screech owl in Guyana.

I heard an owl in Spain, that I am not sure I can identify.   It might have been a Eurasian Eagle owl.

I have found after listening to the selections that I have heard many of these sounds in my lifetime.

The most surprising owl sound for me was the Western Screech Owl and the Eastern Screech Owl.

I have RECENTLY heard the Barred Owl, and the Great Horned Owls. The nighttime sounds are intriguing

because you cannot see what you are hearing.

 

 

 

I think it was interesting is that there is so many different sounds that owls make to communicate with each other. On certain occasions, I have heard a great horned owl.

I often hear Great Horned Owls and Barn Owls here at home, but it's so interesting to hear the wide range of voices of the other owls.  To me, Barred Owls range in their calls between sounding a bit like crows..to every adult character in any Peanuts cartoon I watched as a child.  =:)

Well, it is amazing that owls literally speak to one another and communicate. What really surprising is that, when a pair of owls make their duet hoots and talk to each other......

My typical example from my location here in Africa, Ethiopia is the dueting of the African Wood Owl (Strix woodfordii).

So many surprises, the raccoons, white-tailed deer, and gray fox were really fascinating. You can definitely tell sounds coming from larger owls vis medium to smaller owls. I've been lucky enough to hear barred, e. screech, and great-horned plenty of times. I also heard shorties vocalizing during a recent encounter at dusk. I'd love to hear a saw-whet though.

White tail deer! I hear Great Horned Owls but now I realize I may be hearing other species, time to pay closer attention. This was an interesting presentation.

wow!!  that was a humbling exercise ! Amazing  diversit of sounds .