Nothern Spotted Owl Photo credit:
Spotted Owl
Spotted owls, the most endangered bird in Canada, live deep in the old growth rainforest of southwestern BC. They have evolved in this forest type for so long that they have become dependent on it for survival.
Old growth forests protect spotted owls is several ways. Spotted owls have short broad wings, which don’t fly fast, but give them agility to swoop in between giant trees to escape their fast-flying predators. Spotted owls also depend on the dense, shady old growth forest to stay cool. If they get too hot, they will die.
Spotted owls nest in giant holes created when branches break off giant, old growth trees. They primarily eat one type of prey, flying squirrels (these squirrels really do glide from tree to tree on "wings" that are really flaps of skin between their front and back legs). Flying squirrels are more abundant in old growth forests because their food — a certain type of underground mushroom called a truffle — and shelter — they only nest in big hollow dead trees called snags — are more common there.
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Spotted owls usually have one or two young every other year. They take their first wobbly flight at eight weeks and leave the nest forever after four months. It is estimated that 500 pairs of spotted owls once existed in BC, but by 2005 only six breeding pairs remained. Without protection of their remaining old growth forest habitat, spotted owls are predicted to be extinct in BC before the Olympics in 2010. In addition to protecting all the remaining old growth forest habitat, spotted owls also need us to protect many younger forests. The old growth forests that have already been cut down in southwestern BC are scheduled to be cut again within 100 years, long before they become old growth again. These younger forests must be allowed to grow until they become old growth so that spotted owls can once again move freely and safely around their territories (about 3,000 soccer fields in size!).
Spotted owls also need help in a very unusual way. The few spotted owls left live so far apart from one another that they need people to help them find each other in order to breed. This is done by catching single owls and moving them up to 100 km away where other owls live. One piece of good news for Canada’s spotted owls is that there are also some left in the United States in Washington and Oregon, although deforestation has cut them off from the Canadian population. If we protect the old growth in BC and allow younger forests to become old growth again, then spotted owls from the US will once again be able to fly north through forested areas and help rebuild the Canadian spotted owl population.
