Owls Cascades

Short-eared Owl Lives: In western and northeast Oregon. Asio flammeus Fun Fact: This owl’s call sounds like, “Who cooks The Short-eared Owl can be for you? Who cooks for you all?” seen late in the day, flying over open grass fields or wetlands in search of a meal. It has small What kids “ear” tufts and is quite the aeri- al acrobat. It can hover over its can do to prey before pouncing. help Lives: In the Willamette Valley and East of the owls Cascades. Fun Fact: Short-eared owls nest on the ground 1. Listen to owl calls on the Internet and learn to under grass or shrubs. identify their sounds. Listen for them at night— spring and fall are good times. Boreal Owl Aegolius funereus 2. Never pick up owlets (young owls). They can In Oregon, these small shy spend days to several weeks on the ground brown owls with square faces while learning to fly. Their parents care for live in remote, old mountain them until they can fly. forests above 5,000 feet. They 3. Some owls will lay eggs and raise their young hunt at night from a perch in in nest boxes. Do some research and see what owls live in your area and which might a tree. use a nest box or owl platform. Lives: Rare in Northeast Oregon. Fun Fact: The Boreal owl is named for the winged 4. Read about owls in the news and think about Greek god of the north wind, Boreas. why they are in the news. 5. Do a research report on one of Oregon’s owls Northern to learn about their habitats and threats to Saw-whet Owl their survival. Aegolius acadicus Owls in need of conservation This small forest owl The flammulated, short-eared, northern spotted, is brown or reddish in western burrowing and great gray owls are Oregon color, has white spots Conservation Strategy species of conservation con- Young saw-whet owls and excellent hearing. cern. The northern spotted owl is listed as threatened It roosts (perches) in dense trees and uses cavities under both the federal and state Endangered Spe- cies acts. Visit the Conservation Section of ODFW’s made by woodpeckers to nest. website to learn more. Lives: Throughout Oregon except the southeast. Photos: Barn owl, Wikipedia; Flammulated owl, Dave Menke, Fun Fact: Owls have large eyes so they can see USFWS; Western screech-owl, Willis Peterson, National Park Service; in dim light. While they can’t move their eyes up, Great horned owl, Kathy Munsel, ODFW; Snowy owl, pe_ha45, to owls hooting, screeching and calling down or sideways, they can rotate their heads 270 Wikipedia; Northern pygmy, USFWS; Burrowing owl, Cathy Nowak, There are 14 species of owls in Oregon. ODFW; Northern Spotted owl, Kris Hennings, USFS; Great gray owl, after dark or early in the morning. degrees! Nadine Hergenrider, USFS; Long-eared owl, Mindaugas Urbonas, Five of them are listed in the Oregon Wikipedia; Short-eared owl, Nick Myatt, ODFW; Boreal owl, MDF, Interestingly, owls do not build nests; Barred Owl: A Range Wikipedia; Northern saw-whet owls, Kathy and Sam, Wikipedia; Conservation Strategy as species in Expander Barred owl, MDF, Wikipedia. need of conservation help. Most owls instead they use tree cavities, nests Strix varia are nocturnal, hunting created by other Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Historically, the Barred Owl lived for insects, fish, frogs, species, naturally only in the eastern U.S., but its 3406 Cherry Ave N.E. the occurring structures range has expanded into the Salem, OR 97303 birds, mice and other OREGON west. It is a large owl with brown (503) 947-6000 small mammals in the CONSERVATION or man-made nest and white feathers and stripes www.dfw.state.or.us night. It’s fun to listen platforms. on its chest and throat. It may be a serious competitor to native spotted owls. STRATEGY Ecoregions in Oregon Oregon’s Whooooo-rific Owls I live in the Willamette Barn Owl Lives: Throughout Oregon Lives: Throughout the state except the southeast. Great Gray Owl Tyto alba Fun Fact: These owls will nest in suburbs and cities in Fun Fact: These owls are primarily diurnal (active Strix nebulosa Valley ecoregion Barn Owls have heart- large trees, nest boxes and other structures. during the day) and are fierce hunters able to catch Great Gray Owls have shaped faces, dark eyes Great Horned Owl songbirds at feeders. large heads and and white to tan feathers Bubo virginianus Western with small spots. They often The Great Horned Owl is Burrowing Owl yellow eyes and The Willamette Valley ecoregion is the most urban in the state. It is also the fastest- make nests in barns and hay large and powerful with Athene cunicularia are uncommon in growing ecoregion—it has nine of Oregon’s ten largest cities. Fertile soil and abundant stacks. Some people help yellow eyes and strong This small, long- Oregon. They live rainfall make the valley the most important agricultural region in the state. Culturally, barn owls by building nest talons (claws) that help legged owl is the in older forests and the Willamette Valley is a land of contrasts. Bustling urban areas are nestled within boxes. They have excellent are year round it prey on mammals and only North America productive farmland. Pressure on valley ecosystems from population growth, hearing and can find their prey in total darkness. residents. They nest birds larger than itself. It owl that nests un- land-use conversion and pollution is likely to increase as more people make Lives: West of the Cascade Mountains. East of the gets its name from the derground. It uses on broken tree the Valley their home. Cascades, it prefers agricultural areas. tufts of feathers above its eyes that look like horns. It is abandoned dens tops or man-made Fun Fact: Lacking teeth, owls eat their prey a year-round resident and is often heard calling dug by squirrels, platforms, but prefer using nests made by Learning about the at-risk species and their habitats in your ecoregion gives you whole, coughing up balls of fur and bones called at night. prairie dogs and badgers in grasslands and sage- other raptors. the information you need to get involved in conserving Oregon’s fish and wildlife for pellets, which can be found under trees. Students Lives: Throughout Oregon. brush. In winter, it migrates as far as Central America. dissect pellets to see if they can identify what an Fun Fact: Owls have lightweight bodies, soft fluffy Lives: The Columbia River Basin and southeast Lives: Northeast your enjoyment and that of future generations. owl had for dinner. feathers and a wing structure that allow them to Oregon. Oregon and the central to south Flammulated Owl fly silently. Fun Fact: This owl is active day and night and Strategy Habitats and Species Cascades and Otus flammeolus usually nests in small groups. Important habitats in the ecoregion include oak woodlands, grasslands (including oak Snowy Owl Siskiyou mountains. The petite Flammulated Owl savanna), wetlands, riparian and aquatic. Bubo scandiacus Northern is brown or reddish with dark Snowy Owls, the largest owls Spotted Owl Fun Fact: These owls will plunge through the snow eyes and small “ears.” It in North America, live in the Strix occidentalis to catch small mammals; their amazing hearing lets Strategy species in need of help include western gray squirrel, northern red-legged frog, weighs less than two ounces arctic and are only rare This medium- them pinpoint their prey’s location. foothill yellow-legged frog, northwestern pond turtle, western meadowlark, western and lives in mountainous visitors to Oregon. Every few sized, brown owl bluebird, Oregon chub, Pacific lamprey and Fender’s blue butterfly. See back of sheet for conifer forests, nesting years a number of them are has brown eyes Long-eared Owl in tree cavities made by seen in the winter as they and white spots Asio otus more information. Young flammulated owl woodpeckers. Crickets, follow the lemmings (small on its head and Long-eared Owls moths and beetles make up its diet. In winter, it rodents) they eat southward. chest. It lives are named for the Northern red-legged frog: I live in the migrates to Mexico and Central America. They hunt primarily in the in older forests “ears” or feather Willamette Valley ecoregion tufts above their Lives: daytime. with a variety of Red-legged frogs like cool damp forests and wetlands. East of the Cascade Mountains. eyes. They nest in Fun Fact: Lives: In the arctic. trees, snags and Adults have red underlegs, hence their name. Their An owl’s “ears” are the tufts of feathers dense trees but above its eyes. Fun Fact: Drawings of snowy owls have been found downed logs of decline in the northwest is due, in part, to habitat loss in prehistoric caves. different sizes, hunt in the open. Western Screech-Owl In October, some and invasive bullfrogs. Northern Pygmy Owl and a good tree canopy. It does not migrate in Megascops kennicottii winter. In 1990, the spotted owl in Oregon was listed migrate to south- Western Screech Owls are Glaucidium gnoma ern climates. They This is Oregon’s smallest owl— as threatened under the Federal Endangered camouflaged—their gray Species Act. are uncommon in or brown streaked feathers about the size of a sparrow. It Oregon. blend into a tree’s bark. They lives in forests, has yellow eyes Lives: Western Oregon and on the east slope Fun fact: It’s unlikely you’ll ever hear a red-legged frog call. They call underwater.

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