GREAT HORNED OWL
Our main owl population is the Great Horned Owl. This nocturnal predator’s main diet is rabbits, rats and mice but they also dine on other birds, larger mammals as well as scorpions and frogs.
If you’ve read about owls hooting, Great Horned Owls are what they are writing about. Adults hoot when they are disturbed and angered at their nests, while courting, or during territorial disputes with other owls. Young owls that are still being looked after by their parents don’t hoot, though. They make loud screeching sounds that are often confused with the calls of the barn owl. So if you hear loud screeching in the evening, it’s probably a juvenile Great Horned Owl.
If you hear an agitated group of cawing American Crows, they might be pestering a Great Horned Owl. Crows often work as a group to harass owls. That’s probably because the Great Horned Owl is their main predator.