When does one species become more important than another?

The spotted owl.

Steeped in controversy and the bane of northwest loggers. Is the continuation of this species (subspecies) more important than other similar species?

Fish and wildlife may think so.

If the spotted owl isn't able to compete, do we "thin out" its competitors? Is that right?

The ever-controversial northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) has been protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1990, but despite the best efforts of lawmakers and conservationists the bird's population numbers continue to dwindle. Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has a radical plan to help the raptor: kill some of the barred owls (S. varia) that are outcompeting their spotted cousins for food and habitat.

Spotted owls became notorious following several decades, starting in the 1980s, of back-and-forth lawsuits as environmentalists tried to end logging in the Pacific Northwest's old-growth forests, the habitat the owls depend on for their nests and food. Logging on federal land was banned in 1991, and since then logging in Oregon alone has declined 95 percent, from 4.9 billion board feet of timber in 1988 to just 240 million board feet in 2009, according to The Oregonian. But even with less of its habitat being destroyed the spotted owl population has yet to bounce back.

Aside from its shrinking habitat, the major threat now, according to the FWS, is the growing number of barred owls in the area. These birds are more aggressive, can live in any type of forest, and eat more types of food than spotted owls, making them more adaptable to the current Pacific Northwest landscape.

According to the FWS's latest draft recovery plan for the spotted owl: "Limited experimental evidence, correlational studies and copious anecdotal information all strongly suggest barred owls compete with spotted owls for nesting sites, roosting sites and food—and possibly predate spotted owls. The threat posed by barred owls to spotted owl recovery is better understood now than when the spotted owl was listed. Because the abundance of barred owls continues to increase, the effectiveness in addressing this threat depends on action as soon as possible."

The recovery plan doesn't spell it out how it would control the barred owl population, but The Oregonian reports that "over the next year, in three or more study areas from Washington [State] to northern California, they might kill 1,200 to 1,500 barred owls."

We have barred owls all over on the east coast. They are a handsome species - but... does their commonality make them less important?

Just something to think about. You can read more here.

Killing the owls

I love owls - especially barn owls. Do I want to train one? No. Been there and wasn't impressed by their intelligence.

But I think they are cool - and necessary. I love that owl boxes are going up across the country to help control rodent populations.

But owls have a new twist on an old predator.

Working in darkness, with the quarter-moon obscured by clouds, these two scientists are trying to figure out what an elusive, radio-collared owl is eating along this country road just beyond the suburbs that ring Vancouver. Their mission is to determine whether the decline of Canada’s barn owl is tied, in part, to super-toxic rat poisons.

Scientists know that at least some owls are dying under gruesome circumstances, bleeding to death from stomach hemorrhages in an agonizing and days-long decline. The culprit: An extra-potent class of rat poisons that has flooded the market in recent decades, designed to more effectively kill rats, a food source for the owls.

Six of 164 dead barn owls, barred owls and great horned owls in a 2009 western Canada study had rodenticide levels high enough to kill them outright, causing the fatal stomach hemorrhages. Pesticide readings in 15 percent to 30 percent of the others appeared toxic and seem likely to handicap owls in a variety of ways, scientists say.

The study is the latest evidence amassed by researchers that poses an unsettling question: Are we willing to poison owls and a variety of other wild animals in order to fight rats?

“We’re finding this stuff all over the place,” said John Elliott, an Environment Canada scientist who co-authored the owl study published last year. “There’s a lot more rodenticide in the food chain than we would have ever thought. We’re surprised that there’s that much of the stuff kicking around.”

Studies in Canada, the United States and Europe show that this newer generation of rat poisons is killing a variety of wild animals, including mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, skunks, deer, squirrels, possums and raccoons, along with bald eagles, golden eagles, owls, hawks and vultures.

There are better options. okay maybe not more efficient options, but options with less collateral damage.

And that is what its about - the least amount of collateral damage.

Try ratting with your terrier.

What do you do if you don't have a terrier?

Try it with any dog.

Pretty cool

Camera Trap Codger has been staking out what he thinks are badger holes with his camera traps. He has been at this for quite some time, but hasn't been able to photograph the elusive creature. Instead he has begun to catalog the number of animals which use these holes. The burrowing owl is only one.

Cool Post

I loved this post from Camera trap Codger.

When we walked up the draw a large bird flushed from one of the junipers.

The flushed bird was a loner, but according to Craig these junipers were the winter roosting area.

We caught a better glimpse of the owl a few minutes later.

Finding the remains of the meals of owls is always a treat. read it here. Good stuff

Owl People

I was out for my morning ride yesterday. There is a group of us that ride our cycles first thing in the morning, leaving our meeting place around 5:30 and riding down the Atlantic coast as the sun comes over the horizon. Most of the other guys out there realize that I have another side - the dark falconer side of me- and they will sometimes ask me bird related questions, or we'll talk about different aspects of hunting.

Yesterday, early in the ride, before the sun peeked above the Atlantic, and the skidding clouds were awash in brilliant oranges, a large black silhouette passed over our heads on its way from the coast. None of these pictures are mine - they are only to give you a better visual.

The guys all looked to me to see what it was. Definitely an owl, most likely a barred, maybe a great horned. I wasn't quite close enough to see, and we were moving along at about 20 miles an hour, so I couldn't stop to stare.

.

Here's the question. Why would either of those owls be hunting on the beach overnight? Owls wouldn't eat sand crabs would they? Would there be other prey overnight on the beach? I've never seen rats or mice there. What else could it be? Any ideas?

Barred Owls

Barred owls are a large owl that live over most of the eastern US. They have recently taken the blame for the decline in numbers of spotted owls in Northwest.

One of the threats to many raptors are car strikes. There are a bunch of raptors that hunt along the edge of the roadway, and they sometimes forget to look both ways.

I found this guy on the side of the road. I thought he was a lost cause, until he turned his head to watch me pass.



I turned around and went and picked him up. His left side was broken. Broken leg, broken wing. He looked up at me, and then lay back. I made some calls and found a rehabber in the area I was driving ( I was on my way to Maryland), and dropped him off.

Neither one of us was hopeful, but it was still important to try to do the right thing for the bird.