OK YES SPOTTED OWLS

The Spotted Owl is a medium-sized woodland owl with a round head and no ear-tufts. The Latin word occidentalis refers to something from the west. The facial disc is pale buffish-brown with some darker concentric lines and a dark rim that is not very prominent. The crown is dark brown, slightly tinged rufous with whitish flecks and small spots. Eyes are blackish-brown. The cere is yellowish-horn and the bill pale greenish-yellow. Length 40.5-48cm. Wing length 301-328mm. Tail length 191-226mm. Weight 520-760g. Females are heavier than males.

Spotted Owls are nocturnal. They are placid, often allowing close approach by humans and may be reluctant to fly. In flight, they have heavy methodical wing beats, but appear buoyant for their size. When roosting, a Spotted Owl will sit on a branch, near the trunk, where it is camouflaged against tree bark and shadows. The typical advertisement call is a mellow, 4-note hoot, "Whoop wu-hu hoo". Both Males and Females use it as a territorial call and mate-locating call. During territorial disputes, they give a more excited version of the call. Other calls are the "series location call", a series of 7 to 15 hoots, given during disputes and/or calls between paired birds. A "bark series" of 3 to 7 loud, rapid barks, usually given by the female during territorial squabbles, and then there is the "nest call" given during the pre-nesting period. Other sounds given when alarmed include grunts, groans, and chatters. The female often emits a loud "co-weeep" to contact her mate.

Spotted Owls are long-lived - the oldest wild owl known reaching 21 years old. A captive Spotted Owl belonging to ecologist Eric Forsman reportedly reached 32 years old. The Spotted Owl may be the most publicised of all endangered species in North America. Because of its dependence on large tracts of old-growth coniferous forests, management for this owl has caused tremendous turmoil in the forest harvesting industry, and has spawned an incredible amount of research - too much to go into here. The Spotted Owl is a bird of dense, dark, old-growth or mixed mature and old-growth coniferous forests. Forests are usually dominated by firs or Douglas-fir, but they also use mature hardwood forests of cottonwoods, alders, oak, and sycamore, especially along steep-walled river valleys. They prefer an uneven and multi-layered canopy. They prefer shaded mountain slopes and canyons over flat plateau areas. They are distributed all throughout North and South America.

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