Q. Why are they called screech owls when the only sound I’ve ever heard them make are warbling noises that remind me of musical Morse code? A. I was able to answer this question a few years ago during ...

The sound was unmistakable and led me outdoors to face the thick woods across the road. In the advancing twilight the sound pierced the darkness again, and then again. The ghostly mournful wail, best ...

It’s dusk, and you’re outside taking down the last of the Christmas decorations. Suddenly, you hear what sounds like a ping-pong ball that just got dropped. It starts out slow, accelerates in tempo ...

The small 8-inch owls produce tremulous trills that can sound chilling in the darkness, as heard during the recent ...

A listener responded to our invitation to send recordings of backyard wildlife with audio of a spooky bird screech. An expert at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology helped solve the mystery. OK, that's not ...

Claim to fame: Standing at a height of six to eight inches, the eastern screech owl is one of the smallest birds of prey in the United States. It is also known for its call, a quavering whistle that ...

“It was the strangest sound I’ve ever heard. Spooky. Late at night, out in the woods, moving fast through the trees. I have it on tape. Would you like to hear it?” I stood in my safe little kitchen ...

On the chilly morning of Dec. 5, Alex Patton headed into a coffee shop in Utica. On his way out, he glanced across the nearby stream and noticed the bird in the accompanying photo. Sharp-eyed Patton ...

Q. Why are they called screech owls when the only sound I’ve ever heard them make are warbling noises that remind me of musical Morse code? A. I was able to answer this question a few years ago during ...

And let's take a moment to listen to the sounds of your backyard, or one like yours. OK, that's not actually a bird whistling reveille. But when we invited people to send us sounds of nature, we heard ...