Jump to content
Ornithology Exchange (brought to you by the Ornithological Council)
  • Diet and home range size of California Spotted Owls in a burned forest


    Chris Merkord
    • In a recent paper in the journal Western Birds, scientists from the Institute for Bird Populations and the Wild Nature Institute suggest that Spotted Owls foraging on gophers in burned forests do not require home ranges substantially larger than the home ranges used by owls in unburned forests.

    This article originally appeared in Contact Calls, the newsletter of the Institute for Bird Populations.

     

    In a recent paper in the journal Western Birds, IBP scientists and colleagues at the Wild Nature Institute assessed diet and home range size of California Spotted Owls occupying burned forests in the Sierra Nevada 4 years after a fire, and compared the results with data from previous studies in unburned forests. Results suggest that the burned habitat in our study area was particularly rich in pocket gophers and that Spotted Owls foraging on gophers in burned forests do not require home ranges substantially larger than the home ranges used by owls in unburned forests. This publication is the fourth in our series of papers on Spotted Owl ecology in burned forests that is changing the way forest managers think about the effects of wildfire on Spotted Owls.

     

    Bond, M. L., D. E. Lee, R. B. Siegel, and M. W. Tingley. 2013. DIET AND HOME RANGE SIZE OF CALIFORNIA SPOTTED OWLS IN A BURNED FOREST. Western Birds 44:114-126.





    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    There are no comments to display.



    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...