# Hoot owl outside my window wakes me up at 3am every night



## vestaviascott

We have lived in our home for about 3 months and just last week we got a visitor outside our bedroom window. We've been waking in the middle of the night to the plaintive call of what sounds like a large owl in a tree outside our second story window.

repeated chants of hoo, hoo, hoo - hoo, hoo, hoo, hooooooooohhhh

Just curious if anyone else has an owl for a neighbor.

His/her schedule seems to begin each morning around 3am and last until sun-up.

I've tried banging on the window but it doesn't seem to phase the owl. It just goes on hooting.

I'm hoping it will go away soon or change its schedule a bit, or at least move to the other side of the house. Our home sits on a high elevation and we have a rocky creekbed along our back yard that's used for storm drain runoff. There are some very large walnut trees that the owl is apparently fond of.


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## Startingover

I am so jealous of you. I'd love to have an owl. Maybe if the owl was keeping me awake I wouldn't be so fond of them. Thats a great horned owl you're hearing. A little screech owl pecked on my bedroom window one night and scared the dickens out of me, till I found out what it was.

I was thinking of ways to scare your owl off but one of my kids is visiting and reminded me its illegal to harass wildlife. When googling, "how to scare off a great horned owl" I came across a "solar night gard light". There were testimonals, but not sure if they were real or part of the ad.


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## SeniorSitizen

Yes, we have the Barred Owl and I wish I could get my 15 second video camera recording to upload here but haven't been successful.

If he ends his call with a very audible AAAWWW - AAAWWW - AAAWWW then drops off he is calling for a mate. When the calling ceases you will know the female is incubating eggs. I'm not a professional birder or even close. Just an old man that's been observant through life.


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## The Jeep Driver

I second Startingover's opinion that you have a Great Horned Owl. We had one that would visit us almost nightly the summer and fall of 2013. Sadly we haven't seen it since. 

I also second the opinion that you leave it be. It is illegal to bother it, and the Great Horned Owl is the most aggressive bird-of-prey in North America. (My source for that is the Great Black Swamp Raptor Rehab; they do educational seminars in my area) and one of our friends was attacked by one in the 70's while checking his game trap-line. Hit him from behind, he rolled over to see it coming at him again. He was forced to shoot it, and even though it was self-defense, he almost went to jail.


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## ben's plumbing

fire a 22,25,38,357, at him bet flies away:laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## ChuckF.

If you can leave an outdoor light on that side of the house on overnight, that might disturb the owl enough so it will move elsewhere. A spotlight flood would definitely do it. Owls want to hunt at night and if you mess up their night vision they will move.


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## nap

any idea how close it is? If close enough maybe a serious squirt gun to discourage his choice of roost.


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## Bondo

ben's plumbing said:


> fire a 22,25,38,357, at him bet flies away:laughing::laughing::laughing:



Ayuh,.... Or, just cut the tree down,.....


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## ZZZZZ

Sorry for the diversion but the first thing I thought of when reading the title of this thread is Wildfire. Great old song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc3OnSQc48s


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## vestaviascott

Don't get me wrong, I love the beauty of the flying predators and I think its pretty cool that we have an owl for a neighbor (other than its affecting my sleeping pattern). 

We have lots of red tail hawks here and they are a beauty to watch swoop through the air from tree to tree hunting for food. They are very large, graceful and majestic looking animals. I never cease to stop and watch whenever I see one.

And I'm really curious to get a good look at our owl, I haven't laid eyes on him/her yet.

Interestingly, we have a very bright halogen light atop a 20 foot flagpole in the backyard. Figured it odd that someone would put that there. However, I left it on last night in hopes of catching a glimpse of our owl, since I could faintly hear it in the woods at the back of the house just before bedtime last night.

However, maybe the light actually scared it away. No sounds at all last night. I'm not going to leave the light on anymore, but I suppose its good to know if I really need a full night's sleep, I know what to do.


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## chrisn

vestaviascott said:


> Don't get me wrong, I love the beauty of the flying predators and I think its pretty cool that we have an owl for a neighbor (other than its affecting my sleeping pattern).
> 
> We have lots of red tail hawks here and they are a beauty to watch swoop through the air from tree to tree hunting for food. They are very large, graceful and majestic looking animals. I never cease to stop and watch whenever I see one.
> 
> And I'm really curious to get a good look at our owl, I haven't laid eyes on him/her yet.
> 
> Interestingly, we have a very bright halogen light atop a 20 foot flagpole in the backyard. Figured it odd that someone would put that there. However, I left it on last night in hopes of catching a glimpse of our owl, since I could faintly hear it in the woods at the back of the house just before bedtime last night.
> 
> However, maybe the light actually scared it away. No sounds at all last night. I'm not going to leave the light on anymore, but I suppose its good to know if I really need a full night's sleep, I know what to do.


If it really is a Great Horned Owl( and the way you described the call, it certainly sounds like it) it would make the red tail look small


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## oh'mike

We have one that has come back for several years---I've never seen it---but I do enjoy the visits---

I could sleep through a train crash---so the hooting doesn't bother me.


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## chrisn

They do tend to come back to the same area year after year.:yes:


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## concretemasonry

I had a lake home that I used virtually every weekend and never had a problem with the noise of a great horned owl and appreciated what they did to clean up the area. Apparently, the mice and rodent do not hear the warning of a hoot, so it must be an owl communication.

I frequently was faced with great horned owls when driving down a 1 to 1-1/2 lane wide gravel road serving about 10 to 20 year around "cabins" that was lined with tall trees (oak, birch pine, etc.) and overhang the road completely. When you meet a great horned owl face to face in a car and he is flying about 6' up that has a huge wing span you automatically realize how "Great" they are.

I had more of a problem with frogs (especially tree frogs) at night since I kept the windows open whenever possible at night.

Dick


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## vestaviascott

I finally got sight of our owl last night. It started around 12:30 am with its familiar call. I went to turn on our backyard halogen and waited for it to warm up to full intensity, then went back to the bedroom and rolled open the window a bit to see if I could locate the sound and get a glimpse of our owl.

I was surprised that the owl sounded like it was on a tree branch well below the second floor bedroom, just a few feet or so above the ground. I made a sound or two and startled it in mid "Hoo". It flew up to a branch level with my bedroom and I got a great view of it. Appeared to be about the size of a large rooster, although it was still too dark to make out its facial features too well. It then flew back down to the ground but in a direction away from the house. I'd say its wingspan was about 3 feet.

After he landed on the ground (or on a low branch near the ground), he then made two startling single "Hoo" calls as if I had really peaved him off. 

I shut the halogen off and decided to try to go back to sleep. We didn't hear our owl again for the rest of the night.

Despite the annoyance of being woken up each night, I'm hoping it stays around and finds a mate. Hopefully I'll get used to the sound and begin to sleep through it.

My neighbor had not heard it but she said that there were a mating pair of Piliated Woodpeckers that used to hang out by the creek in our back yard. I understand they are really rare. Apparently, our back yard is home to a very diverse spectrum of wildlife!


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## chrisn

If it's wingspan was 3 feet it was a small one


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## concretemasonry

3' could be a very young owl if it was a Great Honed Owl that stands about 25" high and wide wing span. - They are fairly common around the U.S. and even winter in most areas.

I have no idea of the actual size of the owl that liver near me, but it looked to be wide (5'-6') enough be scary and made me almost duck when I was in the car meeting it head-on.

Owls are nice birds to have around and eliminate the critters. The piliated woodpeckers are beaufitul, large and fairly rare.

Dick


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## gma2rjc




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## talukdar

Very disturbing neighbor I think. 
You need to talk with a Bird specialist to change that Owls schedule that make you awake at the middle of the night.


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## vestaviascott

Thanks for all the suggestions and tips. The owl had moved on a few days after I posted this. Hopefully he found a mate.


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## cleveman

Daylight savings time may have messed up your owl.


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