Wyoming, USA – The recent successful capture and tagging of a Barred Owl in Wyoming, a species not native to the state, has raised concerns about the potential threat its habitat expansion poses to Wyoming's native raptor ecosystem. This concern is particularly amplified given the Barred Owl's history of outcompeting and causing population declines in Northern Spotted Owls in western North America.

 
First Barred Owl Tracking in Wyoming

Researchers in Jackson had been trying to capture a male Barred Owl for over a week, but the cunning raptor evaded their traps every time. It would dive for bait mice only to brush past the trap or skillfully escape with clever flight. However, last Thursday, the research team tried a different strategy, setting up a 'dho-gazza' net in its Teton County forest habitat. This fine mesh net is designed to entangle raptors unknowingly flying into it.

"Literally, all of a sudden, a female came in and got caught in the net," recounted Bryan Bedrosian, Conservation Director at Teton Raptor Center. His team immediately fitted the female with a GPS tracking device, making it the first instance of a Barred Owl being tagged in Wyoming. According to Bedrosian, this is also likely to be the first Barred Owl banded across the entire Rocky Mountain region.

 
Westward Expansion of Barred Owls and Conflict with Spotted Owls

Barred Owls are originally native to eastern North America but have expanded their range westward over the past century through Canada's northern forests, reaching the Pacific Northwest. In this process, they have outcompeted the endangered Northern Spotted Owl, causing severe ecological management issues.

While habitat loss was identified as the primary threat to Spotted Owls when they were listed as an endangered species in 1990, competition with Barred Owls has now emerged as a greater concern. Barred Owls are larger and more aggressive than Spotted Owls, and they are omnivorous with a wider diet. Spotted Owls primarily inhabit old-growth forests and prefer specific prey like flying squirrels, whereas Barred Owls are highly adaptable to various habitats and food sources. These characteristics enable Barred Owls to displace Spotted Owls from their habitats, disrupt nesting, compete for food, and sometimes directly attack them, significantly contributing to population decline. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service even classifies the Barred Owl as an invasive species and is considering culling measures to control their numbers for Spotted Owl protection.

 
Potential Impact on Wyoming's Native Species: Great Gray Owls

This Barred Owl tracking effort comes after the first confirmed breeding pair was identified in Wyoming two years ago. At that time, nature photographer Tom Stanton discovered their nest, causing significant excitement in the scientific community. Raptor experts in Wyoming are concerned about the potential impact of the adaptable and aggressive Barred Owls on native species such as the Great Gray Owl.

The Great Gray Owl is one of the largest owl species in North America, inhabiting the western forested areas of Wyoming adjacent to Yellowstone National Park, particularly in mixed wetland and coniferous forest environments. While similar in appearance to Barred Owls, Great Gray Owls are significantly larger and have yellow eyes, whereas Barred Owls have black eyes.

These concerns are precisely why the Teton Raptor Center initiated the tracking project. Bedrosian's team aims to also tag the female's intelligent mate and their currently nesting owlets. The goal is to collect data on their movements and behavior to understand their impact on other raptor species. Bedrosian emphasized that gathering information is the first step, stating, "It's not to take any action right now, but every invasive species is always easiest to do something about early on than reactively later."

 
Diverse Efforts for Information Gathering

While Barred Owl sightings are not uncommon in Wyoming, the breeding pair reported in 2023 marked the first confirmed record. Scientists now seek to understand what these breeding pairs do throughout the year and if other individuals exist within the state that might compete with other owl species.

The Teton Raptor Center is approaching these questions with a multi-pronged strategy. The first approach involves analyzing years of accumulated acoustic data from the area. Additionally, they are monitoring the birds using GPS transmitters, satellite trackers, and acoustic recorders, supported by grants from the Wyoming Governor’s Big Game License Coalition, the Jackson Hole Community Foundation, and the Jackson Conservation District.

This spring, the team deployed recorders at approximately 200 locations near Grand Teton National Park. These recorders have confirmed the presence of at least one individual, likely a solitary male, in the area. The final phase is tracking. Bedrosian stated that the goal is to tag all members of the nesting family. These owls produced three fledglings in 2023, but their nest failed in 2024. They are currently nesting again, though the number of eggs laid is unknown.

Tagging all the owls will allow ecologists to better understand their territories, where they spend their winters, where their young disperse, and whether there is competition with other species. Bedrosian expressed one of the biggest concerns: "the potential impact on other species that aren't used to this omnivorous, very aggressive predator." He added, "This is an area where Great Gray Owls used to be present, and it's vacant now. Did the Barred Owl push them out? We don't know. But it's not a good sign looking at the Spotted Owl case in the Pacific Northwest."

Zach Wallace, a Non-Game Birds Biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, noted that the relationship between Barred Owls and Spotted Owls in the Pacific Northwest is "one of the most extensively studied competitive exclusion cases in the history of wildlife ecology." In contrast, Wallace pointed out that "there's almost nothing known about potential competition between Barred Owls and Great Gray Owls." He stated that the Wyoming project would be a good step in filling that information gap, and his agency helped secure funding applications for the project. Bedrosian also shared that the National Park Service is involved in the project and monitoring the situation.

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