Who here can ID an owl by its hoot? Need help, ornithologists... [View All]

[MinnFats]

He/she is back.
There is an occasional visitor to the stand of trees behind my home that perches in the upper reaches of some pine trees and hoots about every 45 to 90 seconds -- with random longer pauses -- half the night away. If I walk out there to get a good look at him/her, the owl either clams up or silently flies away. I think the owl does not live here but stops by hunting bunny rabbits. Lord knows there are plenty around here...witness the state of my garden.
I think of him/her as my buddy. I would like to get acquainted. First, I'd like an identification.


The bird's hoot is almost ALWAYS the same... four notes at precisely the same pitch -- the only difference is the lenght and accent on the second note. It's like this:

"hooo-HOOO-hoo-hoo.'

the last note is shorter than the previous three and sometimes almost inaudible.

Given the owl species around here, I think it's one of these: A Great Gray; a Great Horned or a Barred owl.


can anyone help?