The spotted owl population is getting smaller.
Rob Manning, OPB.
A new population study found apparent declining survival rates for northern spotted owls in 10 of 11 study areas across the Pacific Northwest.By 2006, estimated owl populations in Washington and Northwest Oregon were just half what they were in 1994.
Slower population declines were also observed in parts of Northern California and the Central Oregon Cascades. In parts of Southern Oregon and Northern California, estimates of population change were not precise enough to show definitively if the population was declining. Scientists estimate that across its range, the spotted owl population is declining by an average of 3 percent every year.
Data in this map was provided by Eric Forsman and excerpted from the manuscript "Population Demography of Northern Spotted Owls," which is in press at the California University Press.
