Posted on 05/05/2012 9:00:46 PM PDT by Prole
To save the imperiled spotted owl, the Obama administration is moving forward with a controversial plan to shoot barred owls, rival birds that have shoved their smaller cousins aside.
The plan is the latest federal attempt to protect the northern spotted owl, the passive, 1-pound bird that sparked an epic battle over logging in the Pacific Northwest two decades ago. The government set aside millions of acres of forest to protect the owl, but the bird's population continues to decline - a 40 percent slide in 25 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
From Wikipedia:
The Barred Owl’s nest is often in a tree cavity, often ones created by pileated woodpeckers; it may also take over an old nesting site made previously by a red-shouldered hawk, cooper’s hawk, crow, or squirrel.
The Barred Owl is a very opportunistic predator. The principal prey of this owl are meadow voles, followed by mice and shrews of various species. Other mammals preyed upon include rats, squirrels, rabbits, bats, moles, opossums, mink, and weasels.
Birds are taken occasionally and commonly include woodpeckers, grouse, quails, jays, icterids, doves and pigeons, and even domestic ducks. Less commonly, other raptors are predated, including smaller owls. Avian prey are typically taken as they settle into nocturnal roosts, because these owls are not generally nimble enough to catch birds on the wing. It occasionally wades into water to capture fish, turtles, frogs and crayfish. Additional prey include snakes, lizards, salamanders, slugs, scorpions, beetles, crickets, and grasshoppers.
“My point is that the Feds are going to kill off the top predator that is dependent on a foodchain far more complex than their shoot-now-and we’ll-find-out-the-truth-later policy.”
You do know we are on top of the food chain....
The Barred Owl has expanded its territory into spotted owl territory. The Barred owl used to be in the east but has now migrated to the west. They never used to compete now the strongest will survive.
Now we need some Barred Owl Helper or like products!
I would also recommend using fresh Marbled Murrelet eggs in ommlets instead of those from commercial chicken farms.
Contrary to popular Federal misconceptions, do not look for Marbled Murrelets in old grown stands - the bird is a burrowing animal as the latin name suggests (Brachyramphus marmoratus).
Do not look for Spotted Owls in the woods, instead check out barns and billboards.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing calls of any bird. “Who, cooks, for-you? Who, cooks, for-you, all?”
http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Strix&species=varia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzhSxhhAYbE&feature=related
No surprise there - the Dims are also willing to destroy the middle class to expand the bottom feeders.
Obama/Holder application of preferred species. This is getting pervasive in their entire administration.
I didn't think so.
Next he’ll be passing an EO to kill all the humans with X colored eyes to save the Y colored eyed ones. Heil, Hussien!
And that should be changed. The US government has no such legitimate Constitutional power. It is a usurpation of power pursuant to treaty.
The Barred Owl is also an endangered species.
Legally, yes. Actually, maybe not.
The problem is that the food source for the Barred Owl has been reduced, so they prey on whatever they can catch, kill, and eat.
IOW, the same problem as for the Spotted Owl. We'll get to the primary cause of that in a minute.
1.) If the increased attacks on the much smaller Spotted Owl are due to a reduction in food for the Barred Owl, then what can be done to increase the food for the Barred Owl?
The Feds have NO interest in healthy Barred Owl populations, indeed, quite the contrary. The agency budget for the people assigned to "manage" this bird, is dependent upon them staying endangered.
2.) Does the decline in the population of the native Band-Tailed Pigeon correspond to a decrease in the Barred Owl population?
I doubt it, but it may be a related factor. I'd say that once one has addressed mice, voles, and other smaller critters that overlap food sources with band tails, one might turn one's attention there. However, the fix I have in mind would address both.
(Cascara berries are an essential food for the Band-Tailed Pigeons).
Lol, that one too.
My point is that the Feds are going to kill off the top predator that is dependent on a foodchain far more complex than their shoot-now-and we’ll-find-out-the-truth-later policy.
The Feds have REMOVED the apex predator that has been in that region for 10,000 years. Sadly, that omission shows what is remiss in your thinking.
BTW, since the main market for Cascara bark is with companies who refine Cascara bark into diarrhea medicine for humans, the end result may be that the food chain collapses, and we humans were the base cause, in the end.
Here is where you really betray your bias, and it is the usual. It is wrong too. Band tails eat MANY sources of food.
I have some 100 band tails on my property. They hung out here all fall, winter, and early spring. There are STILL some around. My guess is that they are nesting here. At peak, we get some 200 of them to eat Madrone berries, so you see, your thinking pursuant to an Audubon whisper campaign rather than observation.
I have only 14 acres. Why do I have so many birds?
Several reasons. First, there is LOTS of food, because I manage for native plants at all levels of succession. We have the purest native grasslands found on all of the Central Coast of California. They produce massive amounts of seed. Our forests are almost all thinned sufficiently for both flyways (owls need clear flyways) and ground-cover seed production, all of which is native. I have developing chaparral patches producing fruits, all native.
You should see the quail here. We have maybe fifty. Why? I got a house cat and he's a real killer. If you can figure out why deliberately introducing a house cat brought back our quail population, you get twenty points.
Our restoration project has taken me over twenty years to achieve. What is my greatest challenge? Government at all levels wants to introduce MORE predators here, including wolves. That directly threatens the source of the restoration.
You mentioned NONE of that. That tells me your sources of information are birder group-think. Your problem with owls is because of a lack of managed disturbance. You aren't going to get Rhamnus species in that forest without thinning them. You aren't going to get them after thinning them without intensive weed management. That is reality.
So, the solution is to blow off the government, cut some trees and manage the hell out of it, including with fire. Grow native grasses and forbs and you'll have bird food aplenty, enough to supply all the anti-diarrheal products necessary to help fund the project. It is that change in thinking that we need the most.
” - - - I have some 100 band tails on my property. They hung out here all fall, winter, and early spring. There are STILL some around. My guess is that they are nesting here.”
In the spirit of Jim’s truce, I suggest that you take the time to re-read your above quote.
BTW, just when IS Band-Tailed Pigeon nesting season?
In the spirit of Jim’s truce, I suggest that you take the time to re-read your above quote.
I suggest you take your own advice. The post says it is a guess. I have no idea when they nest, but they are certainly not scarce here. I restore the plants and let the birds take advantage of the habitat. They quite clearly like it, which is why an Audubon guy has agreed to organize a group to come here and learn how it was done. So far, it's worked better than "protecting" them; i.e., your way of doing things, particularly as regards relying upon predator mediated competition. It doesn't work.
In the mean time, I suggest commenting on the whole post, and not just the part that lets you walk away feeling better.
“Do chickens have sharp talons?”.....Napoleon
Your cat kills mice and/or rats which feed on quail eggs.
Remember whe the leftists attacked Sarah over her wolf policies?
Good guess, but it was ground squirrels.
Looks like I could be right.
In this location, berries are most available from July to January, although they've been ground feeding here since last fall. This was January 23 of this year.
From what I can tell, they're after bugs.
I read this today and I thought of you...
Now, what was that you were asking me Mr. Ick-spurt? I suggest you dispense with disparaging people who make first person observations until you know for certain that what they are saying is impossible. From what I can tell about band-tails and their behavior in this area, they follow food availability without regard to weather.
I was going to post something similar.
I wonder. In 30 years when the spotted AND barred owls are gone, can we get back to logging?
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