Great Horned Owl Calls, Hoots, Sounds (w/ AUDIO clips)

ByScott
25 Comments

Below, you will learn how to identify the CALLS, SOUNDS, AND HOOTS of a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus).

great horned owl calls and sounds

You should be able to hear Great Horned Owls no matter where you live. They are widespread and found almost everywhere in North America!

Great Horned Owl Calls:

  • Make sure to press PLAY on the audio files below. 🙂

Hooting:

In my opinion, no other owl has better “hooting” than the Great Horned Owl. Males give deep, low, booming sounds – “Hoo-hoo hooooo hoo-hoo” – which can be heard several miles away.

Females also hoot, but the calls are noticeably higher pitched than males since they have a smaller syrinx. Breeding pairs often perform a duet back and forth, which can be heard in the recording above! The BEST time to hear Great Horned Owl sounds is at night during late fall or early winter. This is when they are setting up territories and courting mates.

In addition to hooting, Great Horned Owls make various other noises. One example is that adults will screech loudly to protect the nest. Or juvenile owls give piercing screams to beg for food from their parents. In addition, an array of growls, barks, coos, beak snapping, shrieks, and whistles are heard. Below are a few examples of these sounds:

Female screech:

Begging call:

Watch the short video below for more examples of calls and sounds from a Great Horned Owl.

YouTube video

Have you heard the calls and sounds of a Great Horned Owl before?

If so, please let us know below!

Scott is the creator of Bird Watching HQ. His goal is to inspire you to care more about the birds and wildlife in YOUR backyard. Over the past 5 years, he has been focused on improving the habitat in his own yard by doing things like adding native plants, not using pesticides, etc. He is happy to report that over 50 species of birds have now been seen on his 1.5-acre property (that's in a suburban neighborhood). Learn more about Scott on his About page. And make sure to check out his LIVE bird cameras.

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25 Comments

  1. From near the Greenway by Big Creek in Alpharetta, GA, I heard a male great horned owl in the distance, hooting, and a female near my porch (possibly in a pine), screeching, at around 3 AM on 6/26/2025. I could not see either of them, but their vocalizations were unmistakable.

    In my three years in GA, those were the first great horned owl calls I’ve heard. (Barred owls seem to be common here; chipmunks and squirrels are plentiful in the mixed woodland).

    Reply

  2. I live in So. Cal in a canyon, they are out every night and sometimes one sits on my chimney and hoots! The sound fills the whole house! I also hear lots of other noises, perhaps females or babies screeching. They all make me smile!

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  3. Runnels Texas; 5AM; October. Saw a Great horned owl, drop from the sky to catch a rabbit. Spectacular!

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  4. In my backyard in southern MN. At about 2 or 3 AM, I heard the recognizable hoo hoo hoo call. Not long after, there was a mix of calls, including the hoo hoo hoo, that I had not heard before. I wondered if the owl was courting or if it was enjoying an especially tasty meal.

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  6. yes, just a few evenings ago, jan. 17, across my road in some evergreens. I am in upperco,md, and it was approx 6-7 pm. This is a rural area with farms and residential land. I normally hear the Barred at this time of year, so am surprised to hear the GH.
    A treat to be sure.

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  8. Yes. I hear them all the time. One was outside my bedroom window just last week. 10 pm ish.
    West central North Carolina

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  9. Gallup NM in my back yard during the day. It blew my mind, I thought I was seeing things but I wasn’t. It was definitely a great horned owl ..huge!!

    Reply

  12. Heard a Great Horned Owl this early morning (still dark out) in Plymouth, MA

    Instantly recognizable! What a treat.

    Reply

  13. San Antonio, Texas, in the Bluffview at Camino Real neighborhood near 281 and Bitters! Merlin app says rate for this area?

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  14. Yep Scott, that second one is the exact screech we are hearing from a chihuahua-hunting couple that have unfortunately settled into our neighborhood! Poor little Peanut. Nine Mile Falls, WA.

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  16. We heard one a couple of nights apart , then one night there were two ,
    One had a higher pitch and was further away, probably a female. The temperature was cool at about 3deg. Celsius.
    This was in Val Caron Ontario, Canada. Early October.

    Reply

  18. I have heard the great horned owl call here in San Mateo, CA.
    Unusual, and very much appreciated. (My daughter, a landscaper, says she thinks this is a bumper year for rats. Due to last winter’s rain?). My sister in Los Gatos, CA also hears the GH owls. They roost in the eaves of the Mormon Church, nearby.🙌

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  21. For the begging call, is that a female begging or is it an owlet begging for food? In other words, why are they making a begging sound? For which purpose?
    I heard 3 of them last night, 2 which seemed to be in a duet, and then the third making that screeching begging call.

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  22. We’ve been hearing the begging sound around 9pm and when I woke at 3am. Over the last 5 years, we’ve heard Barred, Barn, and now the Great-Horned Owl. In the country surrounded by woods and 25+ acres of fields. Alfred, Maine

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  23. My wife and i heard a pair of great horned owls on January 8 2024 at 7am just outside Massillon Ohio. A few years ago we had a nesting pair in a big pine it would be great if they came back.

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  25. I live in Greenfield Indiana, there are 2 different owls in my backyard that I have been very lucky to see several times in the past couple weeks and get photos of, I feel very lucky! I did get to hear them hooting and see one of them puff it’s neck out and make a kind of a clicking chirping sound to another one that was on a branch right above it, it was just amazing.

    Reply