Have you ever thought you heard a cloud burst?
Or maybe you’ve heard high-pitched hoots at night and just thought the owl was making them, even if the hoots didn’t have a “hoot-hoot” sound.
In this article, we will talk about some of the birds like owls – it turns out, there are more of them than you think.
Mourning Dove
Audubon has this helpful article that includes audio recordings of the calls of the mourning dove and owls.
As you can see, the sounds of owls are different, but all sounds are high-pitched and have many syllables.
This is probably why the mourning dove is often mistaken for an owl, as owls are more active during the day and more active at night.
Although mourning doves are not nocturnal, they sometimes sing after dark and before sunrise, leading to confusion.
A mourning dove makes a haunting, melodic “hooooo-hoo-hoo-hoo” sound.
This call is very different when you learn to recognize and distinguish it from the owl’s call, which is the sudden “hoot-hoot-hoot” sound.
Many species of pigeons emit a type of cooing and chirping that people confuse with the hoot of an owl.
Additionally, pigeons are more active during the day, while owls are more vocal at night.
That said, it’s not uncommon to hear pigeons singing after nightfall, so dove and owl calls cannot be distinguished during the day.
Pigeons are common in public areas; Owls live far away from humans, so they are not heard like pigeons.
If you hear a bird call like an owl, see if you can identify the bird that is calling.
Depending on where you live, you will find that the sound is often made by a small songbird and not necessarily an owl.
Whip-poor-wills are often mistaken for owls because of the high-pitched trilling sound they make.
Listen to the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIxfVSS_65o Video could not be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Whip-poor-will Song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =jIxfVSS_65o)
Whip-poor-wills are nocturnal birds so, like owls, they are almost exclusively heard at night.
They don’t live very close to the population, but you might hear them if you go out for a night or camp in the forest.
The main difference between the whip-poor-will song and the owl is that the whip-poor-will makes a high-pitched, warbly sound that lasts for two seconds or more. perhaps more.
The hoot of an owl is even more sickly, consisting of short hoots.
The western nightjar is another bird that can be heard at night.
It makes a high-pitched noise that can be confused with a frog, as you can hear in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYM3RURr0M4 Video could not be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Calling Nightjar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYM3RURr0M4 )
The night is sometimes confused with the owl because they can be heard calling to each other in the night; the sounds they make are very different.
However, to the untrained ear, the high-pitched sound may be mistaken for the call of some species of owl.
Steller’s jays are smart birds.
They can make different sounds because they can imitate different birds, including owls.
Check out this video of a steller’s jay making different sounds in a short period of time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaxK5z56kQk Video could not be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Various Steller’s Jay Calls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaxK5z56kQk )
Steller’s sounds can be heard day and night.
They often imitate owls, especially barn owls, at night for their own protection.
By imitating the owl’s voice, they can get the owls to respond to them, letting the jays know where the owl is.
Owls often hunt jays, so knowing where the owls are is the first step to prevention.
Some species of pigeons sound similar to owls.
These two pigeons will make “hoo-hoo”-like sounds in the evening or early morning, as they roost at night or wake up early in the morning.
They will also make other sounds, such as clicking and hooting, that can be mistaken for owl hoots.
Watch this video to hear what rock pigeons are like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2VoDAuZCqU Video could not be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Rock Pigeon Video and Sound Effect (4k) (https://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=g2VoDAuZCqU )
Nighthawks can be heard at night and dawn, and therefore are often confused for owls.
Watch this video to hear what a typical nighthawk looks like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qpsyjmda5Q Video could not be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Voices: Common Nighthawk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qpsyjmda5Q )
As you can tell from the video, nighthawks don’t hoot like most owls; they produce a high-pitched and resonant sound.
The Wilson’s snipe is a long-lived bird that lives on beaches and near bodies of water.
It emits a high-pitched screeching sound that can be confused with the sound of an owl, such as a screech owl.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtNqrygKKkM Video cannot be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Wilson’s Snipe Calling Out (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= HtNqrygKKkM)
Again, the sound is different from what owls make when you know what to listen for.
However, when you hear this bird calling near dusk or dawn, it’s not hard to imagine why you might confuse it with the sound of an owl.
The chuck-will’s-widow is another bird that is often heard at night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHPrdARFM9Q Video could not be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Calling Chuck-Will’s-Widow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =gHPrdARFM9Q)
The call is higher pitched than most owls, but it follows a unique song that makes it easy to confuse.
The red frogmouth is an Australian bird that is most active at night.
It can make a variety of sounds, but the call is mostly known for owl-like sounds, as you can hear in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohu9mPFMXEk Video could not be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Tawny Frogmouth Call & Sounds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= Ohu9mPFMXEk)
The sound is a low “hoot-hoot-hoot” sound with a steady hold.
It’s easy to see why this last bird on this list might be confused with the owl in the land below.
As you will see in this article, there are many species of birds that are very similar to owls, or very similar to them.
Some of these birds actually make sounds that sound like owls, while others are more active at night, which can lead to confusion if they don’t sound like owls.