Northern Spotted Owl – Oregon Conservation Strategy

Overview

Species Common Name Northern Spotted Owl
Species Scientific Name Strix occidentalis caurina
Federal Listing Status Threatened
State Listing Status Threatened

Ecoregions

Coast Range

Oregon’s Coast Range, known for its dramatic scenery, is extremely diverse, with habitats ranging from open sandy dunes to lush forests and from tidepools to headwater streams. It follows the coastline and extends east through coastal forest to the border of the Willamette Valley and Klamath Mountains ecoregions

East Cascades

The East Cascade ecoregion extends from the Cascade Mountains’ summit east to the warmer, drier high desert and down the length of the state. This ecoregion varies dramatically from its cool, moist border with the West Cascades ecoregion to its dry eastern border, where it meets sagebrush desert landscapes.

Klamath Mountains

The Klamath Mountains ecoregion covers much of southwestern Oregon, including the Umpqua Mountains, Siskiyou Mountains, and interior valleys and foothills between these and the Cascade Range. The Rogue watershed has the largest population of any coastal watershed in Oregon (Jackson County, Josephine County, and a portion of Curry County). Several popular and scenic rivers run …

West Cascades

The West Cascades ecoregion extends from east of the Cascade Mountains summit to the foothills of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue Valleys, and spans the entire length of the state of Oregon. It is largely dominated by conifer forests, moving into alpine parklands and dwarf shrubs at higher elevations.

Willamette Valley

The Willamette Valley ecoregion is bounded on the west by the Coast Range and on the east by the Cascade Range. This long mostly level alluvial plain has some scattered areas of low basalt, and contrasts with productive farmland and large urban areas. It has the fastest-growing human population in the state resulting in challenges due to land-use changes.

Special needs

Northern Spotted Owls require large areas of late-successional forest for breeding and dispersal.

Limiting factors

Northern Spotted Owls have large home range requirements. They are adversely affected by reductions in late-successional forest. Habitat loss due to uncharacteristically severe fire is of particular concern in the Klamath Mountains ecoregion. Hybridization and competition with Barred Owls (Strix varia) represent emerging threats. Northern Spotted Owls are also sensitive to West Nile Virus.

Data gaps

Assess impacts of forest operations and management. Evaluate interactions with Barred Owls and associated impacts.

Conservation actions

Conservation actions are largely being pursued on federal lands in Washington, Oregon, and California through the Northwest Forest Plan, federal recovery plan (see below), Oregon Forest Practices Act on state and private lands, and several habitat conservation plans on private lands.

Key reference or plan

Revised Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina)