There is nothing more cliché than the "Whoo-hoo-o-o, Whoo" call of the night in a Hollywood thriller movie, but it really isn't so far-fetched. The call is probably from the Great Horned Owl, a nocturnal raptor of great range and varied habitat throughout North and South America.
True to their name, they have the appearance of horns on their heads which are just really feather tuffs. Their eyes are almost the size of an adult human, but they are stationary. The bird must instead turn his head which is capable of rotating a full 270 degrees. The wing spans of these creatures run about three to five feet making it a formidable predator of small and mid-size mammals.
This photograph was taken in Ketchikan, Alaska at a raptor rescue center.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Habitat: From the arctic tree line in North America to rainforests in South America.
Threats: The Horned Owl is protected in the United States. Threats include agricultural pesticides, and collisions with traffic and electrical wires.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_horned_owl
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/indiana/journeywithnature/the-great-horned-owl.xml
http://www.arkive.org/great-horned-owl/bubo-virginianus/
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