Preliminary plan for monitoring spotted owls in Mount Rainier National Park
Evasick J. 1998. Preliminary plan for monitoring spotted owls in Mount Rainier National Park
Preliminary plan for monitoring spotted owls in Mount Rainier. Includes study design, methods, and conclusions. Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis) are most easily located by their vocalizations. By imitating their calls they can be enticed to call back in defense of their territory (Guetterman et al. 1991). Spotted owls are most responsive between March and September, the period for breeding, nesting, and raising of young (Forsman et al. 1984). During this time most owls will approach an intruder and call; often flying long distances at night whereas daytime response are usually within the close vicinity of the roost area (Forsman 1983). Surveyors generally use night surveys for location of owl pairs and daytime surveys to locate nest and roost areas (Forsman 1983).