Spotted Owl
Common
Name: Spotted Owl (SPOW)
Scientific
Name:
Strix
occidentalis
Global/Continental
Conservation Status: IUCN
Red List – NT (Near Threatened)
National-level
Conservation Status:
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) - Threatened (both Northern (S.
o. caurina) and Mexican (S.o.
lucida) Spotted Owl); Canada – Species at Risk (SARA) - Endangered
(Northern Spotted Owl (S. o. caurina));
Mexico - Normas Oficiales Mexicanas (NOM) para la Proteccion Ambiental
(Official Mexican Standards for Environmental Protection) – Threatened
(Mexican Spotted Owl (S. o. lucida))
Key
Reference(s):
BNA No. 179 ( Gutiérrez et al. 1995); U.S. Recovery Plan for
Mexican SPOW (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1995); Canadian Recovery
Strategy (and then Plan) in development for Northern SPOW
Distribution:
Resident [occidentalis
group – California Spotted Owl] in the mountains and in humid coastal
forest from extreme sw British Columbia (north to Atka Lake, east to
Manning Provincial Park) south through w Washington and w Oregon to s-c
California (Laguna Mountains) and, probably, n Baja California (Sierra San
Pedro Mártir); and [lucida
group] in the Rocky Mountain region from s Utah and c Colorado south
through the mountains of Arizona, New Mexico, extreme w Texas (Guadelupe
Mountains), n Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to Jalisco,
Michoacán and Guanajuato (AOU 1998).
Habitat
Associations:
Dense mature coniferous forest (primarily Douglas fir), especially
in shaded, steep-walled canyons (
Temperate Zone
) (AOU 1998).
Source(s)
of Research/monitoring Needs: Arizona Bird Conservation
Plan; New Mexico Bird Conservation Plan; Canadian Action Plans (Dunn
2002); BNA No. 179 (Gutiérrez et al. 1995); PIF Monitoring Needs document
(Partners in Flight Science Committee 2004)
PIF
Continental Plan Monitoring Needs Category: ** (Long-term population
trend monitoring considered adequate, but some issues (e.g., bias) may not
be accounted for)
RESEARCH/MONITORING NEEDS (source(s) of needs)
NOTE:
See Recovery Plan for additional
research/monitoring needs
Monitoring
- Priority
monitoring action – NOTE: Existing
surveys provide acceptable data at the continental level (PIF
Monitoring Needs doc)
- Second
priority monitoring action – Maintain current species-specific
surveys (PIF Monitoring Needs doc)
- Supplemental
SPOW Surveys
- Improve species-specific survey coverage in
British Columbia
(Canadian Action Plan); Estimation of distribution, population trends
& habitat trends in Mexico (BNA)
- Continuation
of long-term population dynamics studies (determine factors that
regulate population dynamics) throughout species' range (BNA)
Habitat
Needs/Ecology/Life History
- More
information on juvenile SPOW ecology - Research the "floater" (new generation) Mexican SPOW
(What habitat do they use? Do they disperse?) (
Arizona
); Develop more
information on patterns of juvenile dispersal (BNA)
- More
information on SPOW habitat needs - Limiting factors for Mexican SPOW habitat at the northern edge
of its range (New Mexico); Conduct manipulative experiments to test
response to variation in habitat structure (BNA); Determine
relationships between habitat characteristics & demographic traits
(survival, reproduction) (BNA)
Effects
of Management Practices
- Grazing
effects
- How does grazing affect the prey base in madrean pine-oak habitats
used by Mexican SPOW? (
Arizona
); Estimate SPOW demographic responses to habitats affected by
domestic livestock (BNA)
- Estimate
demographic responses to habitats affected by fire, logging &
suburban development (BNA)
Effects
of Human Development/Disturbance
- Determine
effects of recreation vehicles, etc. on sites used by Mexican SPOW (
Arizona
)
Species
Interactions
- Determine
effects of "featured species" habitat management guidelines
(e.g. Mexican SPOW) on Northern Goshawks (
Arizona
)
Demographics
- See
needs under “Habitat Needs …” and “Effects of Management
Practices”
Genetics/Taxonomy/Systematics
- More
information on population genetics (estimate levels of genetic
variation, gene flow between populations) (BNA)
[Link
to References]
[Link
to PIF Bird Conservation Plans]
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