Family: Strigidae, Owls view all from this family

Description 16 1/2 -19" (42-48 cm). A medium-sized owl without ear tufts. Upperparts dark brown with white spots; underparts white, heavily barred with brown; eyes dark. Barred Owl is paler and grayer, with streaks (not bars) on breast and belly.

Endangered Status Both subspecies of Spotted Owl occurring in the U.S. -- the Northern Spotted Owl and the Mexican Spotted Owl -- are on the U.S. Endangered Species List. The Northern Spotted Owl is classified as threatened in California, Oregon, and Washington. The Mexican Spotted Owl is classified as threatened in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. The Northern Spotted Owl's habitat is the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest that are most-coveted by timber interests. Natural disasters such as fire, volcanic eruptions, and severe winds have also taken a toll on this owl's habitat. The Mexican Spotted Owl also owes its decline to the cutting of its old-growth home forests, as well as to wildfires. Changing the practices of the timber industry is the only hope for these old-growth forests and the animals that live in them. Because these forests are quite complex ecosystems that take hundreds of years to develop, they cannot be easily replaced.

Habitat Old-growth coniferous forests, densely wooded canyons.

Nesting 2 or 3 white eggs, usually laid in a natural tree or canyon wall cavity or an abandoned hawk's nest.

Range Resident from southwestern British Columbia to southern California; also in mountains of Utah and Colorado south to Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas.

Voice   2 or 3 short barking hoots followed by a louder, more prolonged hooo-ah.

Discussion This large and secretive rodent eater, rare in much of the West, lives in dense stands of mature forests. The cutting of old-growth forest has been followed by the disappearance of the Spotted Owl, and the conflict between the owl and the timber industry has become a political one.