CURWOOD: It’s the season of Halloween and the Day of the Dead, and that might have people thinking about ghosts and goblins. But for BirdNote®’s Mary McCann it’s the season for owls. And far from spooky the tiny Saw-whet Owl is just 8.5 inches long and weighs less than a stick of butter.

MCCANN: This past summer, a man trying to sleep got really annoyed with his neighbor on the other side of the woods who, he thought, kept backing up a big truck. The next day he grumbled, “What were you doing? It kept me up most of the night!” “Oh, you musta heard the Saw-whet Owl!” the neighbor said.

Named for what, to some, sounds like a saw being sharpened on a stone, Northern Saw-whet Owls are common in forests across southern Canada and the northern US. At this time of year, many move southward, making a large concentration especially in the region of the Great Lakes.

To our ear, the “advertising” call of the male, made mostly in spring and summer, sounds awfully repetitive. But researchers think female Saw-whets hear variety. See if you can. Here are two males – listen carefully to the pacing of their hoots:

Here’s the first [recorded by D. Ross].

Here’s the second [recorded by G.A. Keller].
Some give a prelude to their advertising call [recorded by T.G. Sander].

In the fall, the birds make a “skew” call [recorded by S. Weidensaul].

And here’s a “twitter” call with a snap of the bill [recorded by W.W.H. Gunn]

Quite a variety for one of North America’s smallest owls, the Northern Saw-whet…

CURWOOD: For photos of the adorable Saw-whet owl head on over to our website, it’s a hoot!