They are fascinating birds. My favorites are the ones that hoot, but some make very odd sounds that you would never identify as owls, unless you went to a website of recordings. I'm fond of either the barn owl or screech owl too, but I get their calls mixed up, I can't remember which one has the call that we hear mostly around here. It's kind of a fluttering downward drift from a high pitch to a lower pitch that I find soothing. I was surprised when I first understood it was an owl. And then there's the mysterious part about coming out a night while we are sleeping.