Strix occidentalis
2001 Season


The Basics :
(or, protocol in brief)

For two seasons (April-September), I worked on a demographic study of the Northern Spotted Owl (Stix occidentalis caurina). This is an ongoing study to see how the historic population of Spotted Owls is fairing. We look in areas where they have been found in the past, and see if we can establish
1) if there are Spotted Owls there
2) if there is a pair of Owls
3) if that pair is nesting
4) the success of that nest.

To do this, we hike and hoot (with voice, flute or recording, but normaly floot). If we don’t stir up anyone during the day, we go out at night. If we do find an owl, we ‘mouse’ them. That is just what you think, throwing a mouse out on a stick (we use domestic mice, they aren’t so smart and won’t jump off the stick), and the owl comes in and takes it away. We can then get a nice view of the legs to see if/how they are banded. And by the owls behavior with a few mice, can determine if they are nesting, and hopefully track them to the nest. (ie-running after them as they deliver the mouse to the waiting female or juveniles).

And, like all field jobs, this one is full of it’s daily adventures. Hiking in an old growth rain forest has its hazards. Wether it’s falling off cliffs (hey,. . .I landed on my feet!), learning the dangers of devils club (“DON’T TOUCH”), getting drenched to the bone, bruised shins, or just running into your weekly dose of elk, deer, and the occasional bear or bobcat, this job is always demanding, and rarely boring.

A few photo’s to share:


This is Kurt, my work partner, standing in front of a nice Spruce tree we ran across.


This is one of our nesting females in 2001. We never did find her mate, and it seems he may not have been around. Perhaps that is why her young were small, and at least one did not survive.


And another of the same female.


This is the above female, with a mouse in her mouth, looking to take off and deliver it to her young.


Here she is again, about to take a nap. Note the dead mouse on the branch. She was full apparently.


This is a picture of the mean biologist banding her kid.

(I know,. . .I’m so fashionable as a biologist!)


On to a completely different site, that proved to be a completely different story.


This is the male. Spotted Owls do not show a lot of sexual dimorphism (meaning, males and females are similar). Size gives us some clue (males are smaller), but it is usually the pitch of their hoot that makes it clear. This site had to be visited enough times that we could tell the owls by sight as well.

He is an aggressive owl, meaning that he keys in on you as soon as you arrive and fly’s in to meet you, waiting for mice. I have more than one talon knick from him, as I can barely get the mice from my pack before he’s trying to take them from me. We try not to give them more mice than is needed, so they aren’t habituated, but that doesn’t always work.

Of course, being aggressive means you’re around enough to get your picture taken,. . . .

a lot.
(This is one of many photos on this page taken by Kurt, not me)


Spotted Owls are quite curious (which is not to be said of all owls). Hence, if you’re taking their picture, and you move around the tree,. . . .they look for you.


Note the mouse in the male’s talons.



I believe this is the final picture of this male.


Here we (Jim & I) are banding the female of this pair.


This is one of their juveniles, pouting after just being banded. Notice that the plummage and color are more advanced than in the previous nest. The second juvenile did not cooperate, and avail itself to being captured, which is why we returned to this site so many times.


This is the one shot that I can’t quite pin down,. . . . .needless to say,. . .it’s a nice picture of a spotted owl.


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