Birders are invited to participate in a new survey of owl populations in British
Columbia!
Because of their nocturnal habits, owls are notoriously difficult to count. Owl
populations have not been surveyed effectively by any large-scale
program in North America. However, recent pilot studies undertaken by
Bird Studies Canada and other groups in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba
and Ontario have shown that owl populations can be monitored using
volunteer-based surveys of calling birds.
The Survey
The BC Nocturnal Owl Survey will monitor trends in owl populations through
road-based methods similar to those used in the Breeding Bird Survey.
Participants will survey their route once per year. Routes will consist of 10 stops positioned 1.6 km apart along
secondary roads. At each stop, the observer will simply listen for two minutes and note any
owls heard. Each survey will therefore take only about 45 minutes (not including driving time
to and from the survey site). Two or more surveys could easily be done in a single night. Another bonus for participants is that they can choose their
own routes (though you have to stick with them once chosen) and
you’re not allowed out in bad weather! We also have a pumpkin rule in that the surveys must be done
before midnight, so no-one will fall asleep at the wheel on some
remote mountain road.
No tape playback will be used, since playback is very difficult to
standardize and significantly lengthens the amount of time spent at
each stop. Pilot projects elsewhere have shown that many owl species are calling enough in early
spring to allow sufficient detections for population analysis without
playback. We may have optional playback methods next year if we feel
they are necessary to monitor species such as Western Screech-Owl and
Barred Owl, which are less vocal than other common owls such as the
Northern Saw-whet and Boreal.
Participants will receive an annual newsletter and tax relief for travel expenses
incurred during the survey.
All photos copyrighted by Richard Cannnings
