Great Horned Owl Hoots It Up In Upper Manhattan: Hear It

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — Have you ever heard a Great Horned Owl's call in Upper Manhattan? It's a real hoot.

A Twitter video posted by Brad Balliet features the city's most common owl hooting in an undisclosed "northern Manhattan" locale.

The bird's baritone-esque sound cascades smoothly down through the branches of the tree it sits in, the video shows.

Great Horned Owl in northern Manhattan still singing strong pic.twitter.com/6PsTXKqMxo
— Brad Balliett (@BalliettBrad) March 28, 2022

Balliett didn't specify where in Northern Manhattan he found the Great Horned Owl or which park it is. Among birdwatchers, it's common practice to not give away the exact locations of owls because those birds typically do not like large crowds.

They don't want a free-for-owl on their hands.

But the owl's serenade still ruffled feathers.

"The most vocal Great Horned Owl we have ever encountered in Manhattan," the popular bird Twitter account Manhattan Bird Alert wrote.

A Great Horned Owl commonly hoots to indicate territory or as part of a mating ritual.

"Nevertheless, Great Horned Owl Hooting rarely is heard in Manhattan," Manhattan Bird Alert added to Patch. "Most of the Great Horned Owls that show up in Manhattan, at least in the last twenty years, are just passing through."

"It seems that this owl, which has the deep voice of a male, is still looking to find a mate," Manhattan Bird Alert said. "And it is working hard to do so!"

The Manhattan Bird account added that Inwood Hill Park has hosted a Great Horned Owl for the last two winters, "perhaps the same one, or perhaps not."

Great Horned Owls are also known as "Tiger of the Woods" or "Hoot Owl," and are large, fierce, nocturnal predators, according to NYCAudubon.org.