Mexican spotted owls prefer old-growth forests, and the distribution of these birds correlates with the distribution of forest land that has been protected from destruction and logging. Photo © USGS
A Forest Native At Risk
The Mexican spotted owl is threatened by habitat loss from destruction and logging of old growth forests where they make their home. The species is also affected by barred owl encroachment, great horned owl predation, low reproductive success and low juvenile survival rates.
Natural History
Mexican spotted owls are among the largest owls in North America. They’re ashy-chestnut brown in color with white and brown spots on the abdomen, back and head. Since their spots are bigger than the spots of the other two subspecies, California and Northern spotted owls, Mexican spotted owls appear lighter than their relatives. Their diet consists of wood rats, mice, voles, rabbits, gophers, bats, birds, and reptiles. Mexican spotted owls have the largest geographic distribution of all spotted owl subspecies, and can be found in forested mountains and canyons from southern Utah and Colorado to the mountains of Arizona, New Mexico, west Texas and even into the mountains of northern and central Mexico. In 1993 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Mexican spotted owl as Threatened, it was estimated that only around 2,100 owls remained.
Conservation Status
-Threatened Species, Endangered Species Act, 1993
-Colorado Division of Wildlife Threatened Species
Action Taken
Center for Native Ecosystems and partner organizations joined together to pressure the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl, a project they are currently undertaking. In the meantime, we continue to monitor and challenge destructive projects in important owl habitat. Recently, we helped block a controversial drilling project in some of the most intact remaining Mexican spotted owl habitat in southern Utah.
Read More
-US Fish & Wildlife Service Final Critical Habitat Designation for Mexican Spotted Owl
