I am familiar with two roe vocalizations that I have heard at close quarters – the bark and the squeal.
Regarding the squeal I should like to note only that I believe I observed this vocalization (its soft, gentle, quiet version) between a female and her fawn of the year in the month of December (around Dec 20).
I find it important because this vocalization is used in communication between the fawn and its mother but, in this situation, it was applied during a stage in the female-offspring relationship which is probably characterized by at least partial independence of the fawn.
However, I am writing this post to share another observation.
‘Observation’ is probably not the correct term as it implies ‘watching’, not ‘listening’ while I overheard a vocalization and did not see the actual roe deer at all (which is why I am not able to specify their age and social status).
There were a few (I believe two but perhaps three) roe deer on a slope in a riparian forest.
They had not noticed me and therefore they were acting rather freely and any communication would have been related to their ‘internal affairs’ rather than disturbance caused by me.
I perceived their presence due to the rustling that they created stepping on some drier branches and stomping in their characteristic manner as they moved on.
There is also a rather dense shrubbery due to gardening leakage and, as a result, it is easy to hear the roe deer travelling along.
They seemed to have been moving forth but then they stopped and apparently there was some confusion or indecision, or some obstacle in their path because they halted their journey and stomped about in rather the same spot for a short while.
Suddenly right from where these roe deer were located, I heard a screeching sound.
I am not certain if ‘screech’ would be the proper descriptive noun for the sound that I heard.
It rather resembled the sound that a corvid might make when disturbed (‘crowing’).
It could not have been a corvid, however, because firstly, it was night time and most birds were probably roosting and, secondly, the roe deer could not have disturbed a corvid so close to the ground (the sound emanated from about ground level or perhaps 1 -2 metres above ground).
It did not sound like any night birds (e.g., nightjars), either.
I could not help but assume that the sound had been made by one of the deer.
I have not read anything about ‘screeching’, ‘crowing’ type of vocalizations in roe deer.
The vocalization did not appear aggressive and it was also quiet (most likely not directed at anybody farther than the fellow roe deer in the group).
I should venture a guess it was rooted in the confusion and perhaps related to indecision or some frustrating commotion.
But I would also guess that it was directed at another roe deer (the sound was too loud and impressive to have been some type of self-communication, e.g., if the roe deer had stepped on something or bumped into something and simply made a sound of pain or annoyance etc.).
By the pitch of the sound it seemed that it came from an adult individual (not a fawn, although this observation was made in early January and accordingly, fawns are also rather mature at the moment).
I would also like to express the curiosity over why roe deer vocalizations (the squeal and this one if it had been, indeed, produced by a roe deer) resemble sounds that birds make.
There is some whistling quality to the squeal and this particular screech also appeared rather crowing-like.
I wonder if these is some aspect in roe deer morphology that makes their vocalizations somewhat similar to those made by birds.
Notes by Ieva 