http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/common...
It is spring time, so they may be breeding. Birds call to attract mates, and to declare a territory. If it is hooting during the day time, then it may be a nocturnal species. If it hunts during the night, then it would stop hooting before it goes hunting. Since owls hunt by listening to the sounds of their prey at night, it makes no sense for them to be hooting while they are hunting. My guess is that it is most likely a great horned owl. These owls are often heard during the day. Their calls can be quite mournful and they can be heard over long distances.
Check out Mourning Dove:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/mourn...
Barred Owls are known to hoot during the day with frequency this time of year.
For the last few months I've been hearing this owl hooting all day long. It starts at about 9-10am and stops in the evening. I'm in the north-eastern part of Missouri and I don't think we even have that many species of owl that live here especially in the spring. Is it a species of owls that are up all day and if so what one or is it just one weird bird? And why is he hooting non-stop anyway, is it mating season or something? I can tell when I'm outside that he isn't moving while he's doing it. It is kind of driving me crazy, owls do not harmonize well sparrows, robins, starlings, and the various other daytime birds we have.
