A listener responded to our invitation to send recordings of backyard wildlife with audio of a spooky bird screech. An expert at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology helped solve the mystery. OK, that's not ...

The sound was unmistakable and led me outdoors to face the thick woods across the road. In the advancing twilight the sound pierced the darkness again, and then again. The ghostly mournful wail, best ...

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Smithsonian Institution, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, 600 Maryland Ave., S.W., Suite 2001, Washington ...

Claim to fame: Standing at a height of six to eight inches, the eastern screech owl is one of the smallest birds of prey in the United States. It is also known for its call, a quavering whistle that ...

Owls are more often heard than seen. In New York, there are eight species of these interesting raptors, with the majority most active at night. Some live here year-round, some are migratory. They ...

There are sounds of nature that make me stop what I am doing and listen intently, as if drawn into a deep wildness that is both awesome and yet unnerving. No sound does this more for me than the call ...

The old tulip tree in my backyard is one of many, but this one has a knothole, maybe four inches in diameter and twenty feet up the trunk. One day the knothole seemed to attract a lot of attention. A ...

Though common and widespread, it is rarely seen. More often it is heard. I’m speaking of the Western Screech Owl, the Coachella Valley’s smallest owl. Standing only eight inches tall and weighing in ...