Listen to the Spectacled owl
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the Spectacled owl
The Spectacled owl is a bird in the family Strigidae (order Strigiformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults weigh around 908 g.
What does the Spectacled owl sound like?
Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
The recordings here are labelled as song and call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata) also called a Murucututu, is a large tropical owl native to the neotropics. It is a resident breeder in forests from southern Mexico and Trinidad, through Central America, south to southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northwestern Argentina. There are six subspecies. One is occasionally treated as a separate species called the short-browed or brown-spectacled owl but the consensus is that it is still merely a race until more detailed analysis can be done.
Related birds in the genus Pulsatrix
More from the family Strigidae
Frequently asked questions
What does a Spectacled owl sound like?
You can hear 3 recordings of the Spectacled owl on this page, including its song and call. Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
Is the Spectacled owl endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Spectacled owl as “least concern”.
What family does the Spectacled owl belong to?
The Spectacled owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata) belongs to the family Strigidae in the order Strigiformes.
Sources & credits
- Song · Loja: 'Reserva Jorupe' ca. 4 km E Macará, Ecuador by Niels Krabbe – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Song · Darién Province, at Cana Upper Camp in montane rain forest… by Oliver Komar – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call, song · Bosque de Cinquera, El Salvador by Cristian Eric Miranda – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q911908 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Spectacled owl – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Hans Hillewaert – CC BY-SA 3.0