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Owl
Scientists are using cell phones to find out
more about the habits and habitats of
different species of night birds.

Owls
Who you gonna call? How about this barred owl!
C
ello? Who's there?" "Whooooo?" "Yes, who's there?" "Whoooo?"

That may sound like the old comedy routine "Who's on First?" But for some scientists, that kind of conversation is research. In places across the United States, biologists are using cell phones to ring up ... owls.

"You call the owl, the owl responds, and hopefully you get something out of it," explains Dale Joachim. He recently worked with biologists in Maine who were studying owls. The scientists hope to learn a lot about the night birds from the experiments. For example, they want to find out where owls live and how many owls are in particular areas.

Phoning It In
How does a scientist call an owl? Are the owls on a special calling plan? Not exactly. Researchers have placed cell phones in wooded areas in Louisiana, Connecticut, and Maine. The scientists call the phones from their labs. The phones don't play ring tones; they sound off with recordings of owl calls. The owls hear the calls and hoot in response. The hooting is recorded and replayed in the lab, where biologists study the information.

The phones play the calls of a number of owl species, including small saw-whet and barred owls and the larger great horned owl. Researchers "call the smallest [species] first," Joachim told Weekly Reader, "because the bigger ones eat the smaller ones." If the bigger owls responded first, the smaller owls would be too scared to answer.

  Think About It!
  • ToysWhat other animals communicate through sound?
    • The owl calls are studied for later use. "We keep and record the sounds," Joachim says. "That information can be used to study vocalization." Scientists are planning to use cell phones to study other animals, such as frogs.

    Giving a Hoot
    Joachim is an electrical engineer who works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is more interested in technology than in owls. He says that the cell phones scientists use to call the owls include the GPS. That helps scientists know where the owls are. That technology may be used to find people who are lost in the wilderness. "It's how cell phone technology has expanded," Joachim said. "Imagine-every time you talk to someone, you know where the sound is coming from!"


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