Spotted Owl
Strix occidentalis
In November 1983 hundreds of birdwatchers tramped up the Saddle Rock Trail in the Boulder Mountain Park to view a spotted owl perched on a ponderosa pine limb. This was the first and only clearly documented spotted owl sighting in Boulder County.
Our region lies slightly north and east of this species’ Rocky Mountain breeding range. Spotted owls inhabit wooded canyons in southwestern, south-central, and, possibly, northwestern Colorado. Their range extends southward into the mountains of central Mexico and northward into coastal and mountain forests of California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. In the Pacific Northwest, remaining populations are threatened by logging of old-growth Douglas-fir and redwood forests and by competition with invasive populations of barred owls. Spotted owl numbers also have declined in parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
Females lay two to four eggs in a cave, cliff pothole, or broken-topped snag. They also use deserted hawk or raven nests. Prey include mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels, other small rodents, and songbirds. The primary call is a four-note hooting sequence similar to the “who cooks for you” of barred owls. However, adults rarely vocalize around the nest.