Friday, December 23, 2011

The Friendly Neighbourhood Barn Owl

Pencha koy penchani, khasa tor chenchani.
I have been hearing this call in my neighbourhood for a few days now.

It's not an alien sound. I have heard it before. In all probability it's a barn owl, as there is a house almost next door where they nest on the rooftop. I have seen them in the past. Heard them too. But never seen them making this sound.
I recorded the call on Tuesday, 20th December 2011 in the evening after coming back home. Wanted to upload it on Xeno-Canto but it wouldn't allow me as Tyto Alba was not listed in their website as an Asian bird at all.
I put this problem up on the forum. They accepted it as a lapse and corrected the situation and I uploaded it yesterday. So officially this is the first barn owl call uploaded on xeno-canto from Asia.
I also saw the bird last evening making the call. It was sitting in a hole on the parapet of Bristi's house. I used a flash light to assure myself about the identity of the bird.
However, I am not too sure if this is a juvenile or adult. The repeatitive nature of the call leads me to believe it is a juvenile or fledgling one begging for food. It keeps repeating this call throughout the evening and night.
Eliminating the environmental noise is the biggest challenge in this recording. Getting the sound is not so difficult.

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