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Facts About Spotted Owls When you think of owls, you usually think of them making hooting noises. Spotted owls make hoots, as well as other noises like barks and whistles.
Here's a website that has recordings of their calls, so maybe if you live in the right area, you will be able to hear them! https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Spotted_Owl/sounds
There are three species of spotted owl: The Northern Spotted Owl, the California Spotted Owl, and the Mexican Spotted Owl, which all live in North America mostly in forests.
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Spotted owls are important for population control of their prey; they mainly eat small mammals, as well as other birds, insects, and reptiles.
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Threats to Spotted Owls The population of spotted owls is decreasing, and they are currently labeled as Near Threatened.
One of their main threats is habitat loss due to logging. While this was restricted in 1990 to protect the species, it still affects them today. The trees that were cut down are very large, and take a long time to grow back.
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Spotted owls are also threatened by another species of owl; the Barred Owl. Barred owls are much larger and more aggressive than spotted owls. These owls compete with spotted owls for food, disrupt their nesting, and displacing them.
How You Can Help Luckily, the spotted owls are being protected by the government. Like mentioned before, logging laws are preventing further habitat loss for them, but planting more trees won't hurt! If you live in an area (even one without spotted owls) that are meant to have trees, planting trees is a great way to help the environment and do some good!
Donating towards organizations that will help the owls is a good way to help them directly (but don't feel like you have to).
