One possibility that I will offer is a wounded squirrel. If an owl attacked a squirrel during the night and it escaped and took refuge in a tree cavity, that might account for the sound. As you wrote it, it is reminiscent of what I heard in my wooded yard one night a lot of years ago. In my case, the sounds started with a longer "scream" which was probably the initial owl attack, followed by the "call" type sound that you described. I never saw a wounded squirrel, and the sounds did not continue into the daylight hours, so I have only some guesses by DNR wildlife biologists from a long time ago. Quite possibly, your sound is something entirely different.
Steve Long
----- Original Message -----
From: world oceans
To: Janet Millenson ; MDBirding
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 11:53 AM
Subject: Re: [MDBirding] OT-ish: Mystery sound (probably not a bird?)
Hi Janet, This could be the first-ever record of Peacock inside a tree cavity in North America! If not....if it sounds anything like a peacock, I would suggest that an owl (several species are possible) is probably more likely than a mammal. It's interesting that it continued through the night -- if an owl, probably a young one rather than an adult, I would think. Bobcats can make some really loud screams but I haven't known them to do so all night. It might even be a parrot of some kind. If you hear it again and can record it, even just on a cell phone, that might be valuable evidence of whatever it is!
On Mon, May 27, 2013 at 11:09 AM, Janet Millenson <janet...> wrote:
We were all kept awake last night by something calling loudly from a tree near the house. Any help in identifying it would be much appreciated.
The sound was a cross between the nasal blare of a jay and the mew of a cat, in a single one-second blast followed by a long pause. There was no chittering or chattering to it, just a solid whiny scream. It continued off and on for much of the night and well into the morning. When I finally went outside to find the source of the @#$!&* racket, I was shocked by how loud it was, and wondered if maybe our new neighbors had bought a peacock. The noise might have been echoing from inside a tree cavity, because there were no mammals or large birds visible among the branches.
We're pretty familiar with the varied sounds of the squirrels, raccoons, and foxes in our yard, plus of course the usual birds, and this was totally different. I'm presuming it was a young creature of some sort, but am otherwise clueless. After listening to various recordings of bird and mammal sounds, my family agrees that (so far) peacock calls come the closest. More realistic suggestions are welcome!
Thanks in advance.
Janet Millenson
Potomac, MD (Montgomery County)
<janet...>
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