Northern Spotted Owl Essay

The Northern Spotted Owl is currently classified as threatened and is currently undergoing conservation efforts in order to bring its population numbers back up. The Northern Spotted owl is the largest of the three subspecies of spotted owls. They are medium sized, dark brown owls with barred tails and white spots on their head and breast. The males are slightly larger than the females and are often confused with the barred owl. They are primarily nocturnal but still forage opportunistically during the day. Their primary prey is the flying squirrel but also eat wood rats, mice and other small rodents. They thrive in the dense douglas-fir and hemlock tree forests of the Pacific Northwest and are a crucial part of the ecosystem there helping

Today spotted owls are particularly rare in their traditional habitat range of British Columbia, the Cascade Mountains of northern Washington, and the Coast Ranges of southwest Washington and northwest Oregon. However, a large and virtually isolated population still exists on the Olympic peninsula. Estimates suggest that the amount of suitable habitat available to spotted owls has been reduced by over 60 percent in the last 190 years. The main threat to the spotted owl is habitat loss as well as competition as well as being edged out of their territory by the barred owl. Listing of the northern spotted owl as threatened and the designation of critical habitat space are helping to reduce habitat loss on Federal lands. The owl and its habitat are of immense scientific value, providing opportunities for inquiry and for increasing our understanding of this unique ecosystem and its role in our lives and in those of future generations. To date, little research has been done on these forests in the Pacific Northwest. To allow their extinction is to permanently destroy the possibility of exploration and the benefits generated by new