Detection Dogs Spot Northern Spotted Owls, Even Those Alarmed by Barred Owls

ScienceDaily (Aug. 15, 2012) — A series of forest searches by dogs specially trained to sniff out northern spotted owl pellets -- the undigested bones, fur and other bits regurgitated by owls -- improved the probability of finding the owls by nearly 30 percent over a series of traditional vocalization surveys.

Since the 1980s scientists and land managers have relied on vocalization surveys that use simulated northern spotted owl calls to elicit owl responses. As forests have been invaded by barred owls, which displace and even kill spotted owls, concerns have grown that spotted owls may be timid about responding to such vocalization surveys and may open themselves to attack if they do, said Samuel Wasser, University of Washington research professor and director of the UW Center for Conservation Biology.

"Wildlife managers spent years trying to get good forest practices in place that are contingent on spotted owl presence and now the invading barred owl is hindering our ability to show it's there," Wasser said.

"Vocalization surveys have a lot of value and by no means are we suggesting that the dogs should replace the vocalization surveys. But dogs can add value. The dogs have higher detection probabilities than vocalization surveys under some circumstances, can simultaneously detect spotted and barred owls and don't need owls to vocalize to be detected. The vocalization surveys have the advantage of being able to cover a much, much bigger area. The two together would be very complementary."

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120815174906.htm