Northern Spotted Owl

The Spotted Owl is found exclusively within the temperate coniferous forests of western North America, where it depends on unfragmented old-growth forests to roost, nest and forage. It is a medium-sized, round-headed owl that has brown, buff and white colouring. Spotted Owls largely prey upon flying squirrels, deer mice, and other small mammals.

Although the Spotted Owl was formerly abundant, it has become an endangered species in both the U.S. and Canada, primarily because of extensive logging.

The situation is especially dire in Canada, where fewer than 11 breeding pairs of the Northern Spotted Owl remain, all of which live in the southwest of the province. The Northern Spotted Owl is currently the most endangered bird in Canada.

Logging damages habitat

Over 80 percent of Spotted Owl habitat in Canada has been logged since the 1940s. The remaining owl habitat in British Columbia's old-growth forests has been highly fragmented by clearcut logging.

The government of British Columbia has acknowledged that logging of old-growth forests is the principal cause of the Northern Spotted Owl’s decline. Yet, through its Timber Sales program, the province is the largest logger of Spotted Owl habitat. And, new forestry regulations give priority to logging over any threat to Spotted Owl habitat, despite recommendations from government biologists.

To date, the provincial government has approved logging in at least three, and as many as six, of the 10 areas in which the owl was detected in 2003. Meanwhile, even British Columbia’s largest logging companies have agreed to a voluntary halt to logging in Spotted Owl habitat.

Several years ago, the province created a Spotted Owl Recovery Team to address public concerns about the rapid decline of the Northern Spotted Owl. However, the process has focused on socio-economics rather than scientific and ecological considerations, which led the Recovery Team’s biologist and Spotted Owl specialist, Andy Miller, to quit in protest.

The Spotted Owl Recovery Team finally submitted a management plan to the Province of British Columbia in November of 2003, but the government has not yet released this to the public. So, logging continues unabated in Spotted Owl habitat. Unfortunately, leaked copies of the Spotted Owl Recovery Plan reveal that it has little protection for the endangered Spotted Owl.

Spotted owl canary of old-growth forests

The Spotted Owl is the tragic equivalent of the ‘canary in a coal mine’ for species that depend upon the old-growth forests of British Columbia for their survival. Approximately 71 vertebrate species (4 amphibians, 34 birds, 17 mammals, and 16 fish) share the same habitat as the Spotted Owl, and therefore are also at risk because of extensive logging in their forest home.

Currently, almost 25 percent of the species that share Spotted Owl habitat are considered at risk, and many more are in serious decline. The Spotted Owl is considered by some to be an indicator species - an unfortunate ‘early warning system’ that demonstrates the serious impact that logging of ancient forests has on biodiversity. The present state of the Spotted Owl is indicative of general declines in a multitude of species, mostly due to logging of their habitat.