There is no hunting season on ANY bird of prey in the USA and territories.
The Barred Owl is also an endangered species.
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.
The questions for the feds then are as follows: 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?
2.) Does the decline in the population of the native Band-Tailed Pigeon correspond to a decrease in the Barred Owl population?
3.) Does the decrease in numbers of mature Cascara trees correspond to the
decrease in the numbers of Band-Tailed Pigeons? (Cascara berries are an essential food for the Band-Tailed Pigeons).
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.
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.
"An 0bama policy that came out earlier this year gives government agents clearance to find, shoot and destroy Barred Owls in habitats considered Spotted Owl "territory" in Washington, Oregon and Northern California. The democrat party is truly the psychopath's party."
Check out Article, then # 15.
Thanks, Graewoulf.
“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.
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
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.