Comox Valley Naturalists Society

Sunday, November 20, 2005
Paul Levesque
Northern Saw-whet Owl

Paul Levesque of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory near Victoria will give a presentation on owl biology with particular reference to research on the Northern Saw-whet owl.

More often heard than seen, nocturnal owl species pose a number of challenges to biologists and naturalists studying and monitoring their populations. One question that has needed to be addressed was the migratory status of Northern Saw-whet Owls on coastal British Columbia. During the fall of 2002, a pilot project was started at Rocky Point Bird Observatory on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, to determine if, like many other bird species, were Northern Saw-whets being concentrated in the area during the fall.

On Friday and Saturday evenings in September and October, a crew of volunteers set up mist nets and played Northern Saw-whet Owl vocalizations. By the ended of October, over 200 Northern Saw-whet Owls had been captured, banded and released. There was now evidence that Northern Saw-whets were indeed migrating south in the fall and that the number of birds present meant that a long term monitoring project was feasible.

The results from 2002 raised a number of new questions: Where were the owls going? Were the number of owls observed the result of an abnormally good breeding season? In an attempt to answers these questions additional research was undertaken which is on-going.

Join Paul Levesque at this Naturalists Society meeting and learn about the results of the project since 2002 and some fascinating aspects of owl biology. Paul started volunteering with Rock Point Bird Observatory in 1998 and has served as a director since 2000. Currently, he oversees the Nocturnal Owl Monitoring Project.

Click on a link below to view descriptions of previous guest speakers.