Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Project

NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL

On July 29th, 2007 Mountain View acquired our first Northern Spotted Owl, a male named Skye. Spotted owls are the most endangered bird in British Columbia with the wild population believed to be less than 20. Threatened to extinction due to logging and habitat destruction plus competition for what little habitat there is by the Barred Owl, this creature is in dire need of protection.

Mountain View will receive eight owls to start a captive breeding program to help preserve these lovely little birds, while the government and industry solve the habitat distruction issues. Mountain View is building a special fly way for the owls in a secluded, protected area of the Conservation Centre. This area will not be available for viewing as these animals need a highly secure and healthy environment. Disease would be devastating and that is why Mountain View has a rigid protocol that restricts even the staff and keepers from interacting with the owls.

Keepers feed the owls a natural diet that includes mice so he must hunt for his food. The first female will arrive by November and Mountain View is very hopeful they get along and we will see chicks in the spring.

Spring 2008, saw us cautiously hopeful that the four Northern Spotted Owls given to us by the British Columbia Government, would result in the display of at least some pair bonding behavior.

Excitement grew in May, when our cameras in their enclosures, showed that the birds had other ideas. One pair laid an unfertile egg and the other pair had a chick!

The parent pair have a special story. The female had been on her own in captivity for 13 years at a rehabilitation center before she was sent to us. A severe wing injury had prevented her from being re-introduced to the wild.

Sent to us late in 2007, we paired her with a juvenile that biologists speculated was too young to breed. This pairing was intended to be an exercise for both to get used to each other and practice pair bonding behavior. They did very well in this exercise. So well in fact, that on May 28, they hatched a female chick!

Our cameras gave us an invaluable eye into their behaviour. The male did everything he was supposed to do. He brought food to the female when she was on the nest and brought food to the chick when it needed to be fed.

The female was a fabulous mother, also feeding the chick as needed and sitting diligently on it, until there was no longer room for her to do so.

The fluffy white chick grew quickly and soon it appeared bigger than it’s parents. She has now lost her fluffy down and looks like an adult Spotted Owl. Before long, she will be released into the large flight pen we have specially designed for these owls.

This immediate success is immensely encouraging.

You can click on this logo to donate online to the Northern Spotted Owl Captive Management Program at Mountain View.