The northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) is one of three types of spotted owls. This medium-sized, dark brown bird belongs to the family Strigidae and the genus Strix. It lives in the Pacific Northwest region of western North America. As an important indicator species, the northern spotted owl is still in danger because its population continues to decrease. This decline is caused by human activities that destroy its habitat and competition with invasive species, particularly the barred owl.
Description
Northern spotted owls have dark brown feathers with white spots and no ear tufts. They are usually between sixteen to nineteen inches long and weigh one to one and one sixth pounds. They have a round face that is dark brown, with a visible "X" between their eyes. Female owls are about 10-20% larger than males. Their wingspan is about 42 inches. These owls are mainly active at night and form long-term pair bonds. While most owls have yellow to red-orange eyes, northern spotted owls are among the few owls with darkish to black eyes.
Thirteen different sounds, including hoots, whistles, and barks, have been identified as calls of the northern spotted owl. Female owls make higher-pitched calls than males. Of the three types of calls, hoots are most often used to announce things like territory and prey. Whistles are frequently used by females to communicate with males, and barks are used during disputes over territory.
Distribution and habitat
The northern spotted owl mainly lives in old-growth forests in the northern part of its range, which includes extreme southwestern Canada to southern Oregon. It also lives in areas with a mix of older and younger forests in the southern part of its range, such as the Klamath region and California. This owl’s range stretches along the Pacific coast from extreme southern British Columbia to Marin County in northern California. The owl prefers old-growth forests, the same forests that environmentalists tried to protect during the "timber wars" starting in the 1980s. This preference made the owl a symbol of the environmental movement.
Most spotted owls live on federal lands, such as those managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service. Many also live on state lands in Washington, Oregon, and California, as well as on tribal and private properties.
In Washington state, northern spotted owls live on 500,000 acres of private forestlands managed by Native American tribes. These tribes are recognized as sovereign governments and create their own management plans for the owls in their areas. However, the U.S. federal government requires all landowners and people living on these lands to follow the Endangered Species Act, regardless of whether the land is owned by tribes or private individuals.
Northern spotted owls build nests in tree hollows or on platforms in large trees. They may also use nests left behind by other animals. These owls usually stay in the same area unless harsh conditions or a lack of food force them to move.
Diet
The northern spotted owl eats mostly small mammals (91.5%), some birds (4.3%), a few insects (4.1%), and other prey (0.1%). The animals it eats are mostly active at night (91.9%) or active both day and night (4.8%), which matches the northern spotted owl’s mostly nighttime activity. The main animals it eats include northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus), woodrats (Neotoma fuscipes and N. cinerea), red tree voles (Arborimus longicaudus), western red-backed voles (Clethronomys californicus), deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), and gophers (Thomomys spp.). The number of these small mammals eaten depends on the habitat and how many small nocturnal mammals are present. The recent arrival of barred owls (Strix varia) in the northern spotted owl’s area has caused less food to be available because both species eat similar prey.
Behavior
The northern spotted owl does not tolerate disturbance in its habitat. Each pair of owls requires a large area of land for hunting and nesting. They do not usually move to new areas unless there are major seasonal changes, such as heavy snowfall, which makes hunting difficult. Their flight pattern is unique, with quick wingbeats alternating between gliding. This method helps them glide silently to catch their prey.
When it comes to humans, the northern spotted owl's behavior has been described as "remarkably demeanor."
Reproduction
Northern spotted owls reach sexual maturity at two years of age. They usually begin breeding when they are three years old. Males and females mate in February or March. The female lays two or three eggs in March or April. The female keeps the eggs warm for about thirty days until they hatch. After the eggs hatch, the young owls stay in the nest, and the adult female is mainly responsible for caring for them. The young owls can fly after 34 to 36 days. During this time, the male hunts and feeds the young. The young owls stay with their parents until late summer or early fall. They then leave the nest and begin their own winter feeding areas. By spring, the young owls’ territory will be between 2 and 24 miles away from their parents.
Conservation
There are fewer than 1,200 pairs of Northern Spotted Owls in Oregon, 560 pairs in Northern California, and 500 pairs in Washington. In Washington, more than 90 percent of its old-growth forest has been lost due to logging, which has caused a 40 to 90 percent drop in the Northern Spotted Owl population.
The IUCN Red List, which tracks threatened species worldwide, lists the spotted owl as "Near Threatened" with a decreasing population trend. Since the IUCN Red List does not track subspecies, this status applies to all spotted owls across Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
In British Columbia, the Northern Spotted Owl population has nearly disappeared. Originally, there were at least 1,000 owls, but by the 1990s, fewer than 100 breeding pairs remained. The Canadian population was declared endangered in 2002 under the Species at Risk Act. By 2002, there were 30 breeding pairs, and by 2005, only 22 individuals, including 6 breeding pairs, remained. A captive breeding program was suggested in 2006 and began in 2007 in Langley. The program aims to grow the captive population to 10 breeding pairs and release 10 to 20 young owls each year into protected old-growth forest. Over the next 10 to 20 years, the program hopes to recover the wild population to about 300 adult owls.
In 2021, only 3 Northern Spotted Owls remained in the wild in Canada. The wild population had decreased to a single female living in the forests of the Spuzzum First Nation. In August 2022, three male owls were released nearby, but one was returned to captivity after being hit by a train, and the other two died of unknown causes in May 2023. The captive breeding program now includes about 30 individuals.
The Northern Spotted Owl was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in northern California, Oregon, and Washington by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service on June 23, 1990. This listing was because the loss of old-growth forest was the main threat to the owl. The USFWS had reviewed the owl’s status in 1982, 1987, and 1989 but did not list it as threatened or endangered at those times. Logging in national forests where the owl lived was stopped by court order in 1991.
Controversy
In 1990, the logging industry said that up to 30,000 out of 168,000 jobs could be lost because of the owl’s protected status, which matched a Forest Service estimate. Timber harvests in the Pacific Northwest dropped by 80%, which reduced the supply of lumber and raised prices. However, job losses were already happening because of fewer old-growth forests and automation in the lumber industry. A study from the University of Wisconsin–Madison by environmental scientists said that logging jobs had been decreasing for a long time and that environmental protection was not the main reason for job loss. From 1947 to 1964, the number of logging jobs dropped by 90%. Starting with the Wilderness Act of 1964, environmental protection helped save 51,000 jobs in the Pacific Northwest. Studies from 2021 and 2024 showed that placing the Northern Spotted Owl under the Endangered Species Act led to fewer timber jobs in the Pacific Northwest.
The debate between loggers and environmentalists became a major issue. Bumper stickers like “Kill a Spotted Owl—Save a Logger” and “I Like Spotted Owls—Fried” were used to support loggers. Plastic spotted owls were hung as symbols in Oregon sawmills. In response to negative publicity, the logging industry started the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. Some people in the timber industry and conservatives said the owl was an example of too much or wrong environmental protection, while environmentalists saw the owl as an “indicator species,” or “canary in a coal mine,” whose protection helped save an entire ecosystem.
Protecting the owl under the Endangered Species Act and the National Forest Management Act changed how forests were managed in the northwest. President Clinton’s 1994 Northwest Forest Plan aimed to protect owls and other species that rely on old-growth forests while allowing some timber harvest. This plan led to less logging, but automation and new laws also caused thousands of jobs to be lost.
The debate has become less intense over time, with little action from environmentalists as the owl’s population continues to drop by 7.3% each year. In 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed the owl remained threatened but noted that barred owls moving into the owl’s area was also harming its population.
In 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a new plan to help recover the owl. Early versions of this plan were criticized by environmental groups for weakening protections. The Obama administration stopped plans to increase logging on Bureau of Land Management lands. Recent discussions focused on two new ideas: using wildfire management to help owls survive in certain areas and controlling barred owl populations through culling, which some activists opposed.
In 2010, federal scientists considered whether removing barred owls could help spotted owls grow in number.
In early 2021, the Trump administration removed over 3 million acres of Pacific Northwest land from the owl’s protected habitat, 15 times more than previously proposed. Aurelia Skipwith, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said these changes helped protect the owl while supporting rural communities. However, the Biden administration reversed this decision in 2021, restoring earlier protections.
Influence of barred owl invasion
The barred owl is a type of owl that originally lived in the Eastern United States but has moved into the areas where the northern spotted owl lives. This movement has happened recently, and now the barred owl lives in all the areas where the northern spotted owl is found. Barred owls eat small mammals (74.7%), other birds (8.3%), amphibians (6.4%), insects (5.6%), crayfish (3.0%), fish (1.5%), reptiles, snails, slugs, and earthworms (<1.0% each). Their diet is similar to the northern spotted owl, and the presence of barred owls in the same areas increases competition for food. In these areas, northern spotted owls need about three to four times more space than barred owls, which makes it harder for northern spotted owls to find enough food. As the number of barred owls grows, the competition for food will become even worse for northern spotted owls.
The barred owl eats a wider variety of food, including more amphibians, crayfish, and fish than the northern spotted owl. This can harm the balance of nature because these animals may be hunted more than before. The extra food sources also help barred owls outcompete northern spotted owls for resources. Because barred owls hunt some of the same prey as northern spotted owls, their presence may cause unknown long-term changes to the balance of these habitats. The biggest effect is on the northern spotted owl population, which has decreased by about 3.8% each year from 1985 to 2013. This decline is directly linked to the presence of barred owls. A study by Diller et al. (2016) showed that removing barred owls from an area caused northern spotted owl numbers to increase, while northern spotted owl numbers continued to drop if barred owls were not removed. If northern spotted owl habitats are protected under the Northwest Forest Plan and other laws, controlling barred owl populations might help stop the decline of northern spotted owls. Without action, the continued loss of northern spotted owls could lead to their extinction.
Northern spotted owls and barred owls can have offspring that are a mix of both species. In the past, they lived in separate areas, so this did not happen before. Today, these mixed-breed young are hard to tell apart from regular owls without special tests that look at their genes. However, mixed-breed owls are usually larger and lighter in color than northern spotted owls, with facial features similar to barred owls. All mixed-breed offspring are the result of male northern spotted owls and female barred owls. Cross-breeding between the species is rare and probably not harmful to either group. Direct competition for space and food between the two species is a bigger problem for both populations. There is also evidence that northern spotted owls and California spotted owls (S. o. occidentalis) have bred, but since both are types of the same species, this is not considered true hybridization.