[Tweeters] Calling Barred Owls

[Jenny Easterberg via Tweeters]

I love seeing these owls in our area, all owls really. They are such neat
little birds.

My thoughts on what I've read regarding the proposed culling of
450,000-500,000 barred owls:
It is treating the symptom, rather than the disease. Yes, they have moved
to new areas where there used to be Spotted Owls. However, deforestation
and logging of old growth has pushed the spotted owl to a much narrower
habitat range. Therefore, culling the barred owls won't necessarily help.
Protecting old growth forests is at the root of the issue and that is what
needs to be addressed first and foremost. It is similar to the countless
wolf packs that were decimated in Alaska; it did nothing to bring back the
caribou. Climate change is the culprit of the loss of caribou and therefore
that is what should have been treated in that situation rather than
destroying the wolf packs. Moral of the story, treat the disease, not the
symptom.

Sincerely,
Jenny

On Tue, Jul 16, 2024 at 5:15 PM Tom Benedict via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> It’s been a few years, but I’ve heard the diagnostic ‘bouncing ball’ call

> of the WESO at our home in Seahurst, WA a couple of times. Otherwise mostly

> BDOW hooting.

>

> As far as the plan to kill 450,000 of them to ’save’ the SPOW goes, I

> gotta confess it makes no sense to me at all. Will be be doing the same

> things in a few years to ANHU to ’save’ RUHU?

>

> Tom Benedict

> Seahurst, WA

>

> > On Jul 16, 2024, at 15:16, Joshua Hayes via Tweeters <

> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

> >

> > Sent with Proton Mail secure email.

> >

> > Former academic ecologist here, and I'll confirm Dennis's notes on the

> distinction between invasive and expanding range. We have a resident barred

> owl in our tiny little park here in Licton Springs (my son has an eerie

> ability to find it during the day; probably just his 27-year-old eyes

> compared to my 63-year-old ones). I'd also note that we have at least

> occasional saw-whet owls over on the North Seattle College campus,

> something I'd have been dubious about except that that same son recovered a

> dead saw-whet over there in the last couple of years, which we then donated

> to the Burke. But I've never heard a screech owl in Seattle, it's true.

> >

> > Josh Hayes

> > Joshuaahayes at proton.me

> > Dennis Paulson writes:

> >

> >> Mike, they are thrilling to hear and see. We live above Thornton Creek,

> where there is a nesting pair, and we hear them from time to time and have

> seen them in our yard a few times. They seem to be the only owl species in

> the neighborhood.

> >>

> >> But I wanted to note that they are not an invasive species. An invasive

> species is one that humans have transported out of its normal range and,

> often unfortunately, does very well in its new location at the expense of

> other species.

> >>

> >> Barred Owls, on the other hand, expanded their range naturally across

> the Rockies and then down the Pacific states. The only thing we had to do

> with that probably involves the habitat changes that we have made over time

> that facilitated the owl?s expansion.

> _______________________________________________

> Tweeters mailing list

> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20240716/c7cb1a6c/attachment.html>