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Spotted Owl Observations Database Info

Spotted Owl Database FAQ

For questions, comments, suggestions, or information about contributing data send an email to our account.

Background

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife's (CDFW) Spotted Owl Observations Database was started in 1973 and has been a part of the Department ever since. Two recognized subspecies of spotted owl occur in California. The California spotted owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) ranges in the Sierra Nevada and south and is recognized as a CDFW Species of Special Concern. The northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) ranges across California’s north coast and interior and is Federally listed as Threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service).

The Service, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and commercial timber interests have used the CDFW Spotted Owl Observations Database to help assess the potential for take of northern spotted owls. The presence of a long-term observation database has allowed land managers, biologists, foresters, and researchers to better evaluate the status and distribution of owl activity centers over time and space.

CNDDB and the Spotted Owl Observations Database

Both subspecies of spotted owl occurring in California are tracked by the Department’s California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) but maintained in the CDFW Spotted Owl Observations Database. The CDFW Spotted Owl Observations Database is packaged with the CNDDB and governed by the CNDDB License Agreement. The Spotted Owl Observations Database has not been integrated directly into the CNDDB because management plans for both northern and California spotted owls specifically address owl activity centers, and because CNDDB follows a slightly different mapping protocol, the Natural Heritage Methodology of Element Occurrences, it doesn't track activity centers.

The Spotted Owl Observations Database and CNDDB are accessible together in the CNDDB & Spotted Owl Data Viewer. Additionally, the CDFW Spotted Owl Observations Database is available along with RareFind data updates through the CNDDB monthly updates webpage. For more information on obtaining access to the CNDDB/Spotted Owl Viewer contact our Information Services desk at (916) 324-3812.

2012 Spotted Owl Observations Database Update

In 2012, the Department’s Biogeographic Data Branch (BDB) released an updated spatially-explicit version of the Spotted Owl Observations Database (BIOS layer ds704). In addition to displaying the locations of owl activity centers, the updated Spotted Owl Observations Database now includes the locations of all observations, both positive and negative. Additionally, BDB created the Spotted Owl Observations Spider Diagram layer depicting the relationship between activity center and observations (BIOS layer ds705). In December 2012, BDB revised the format of reports generated from the database, changed the way USFWS Technical Assistance letters were represented in the database, and resumed entering new data. For more information, please refer to our Spotted Owl Database FAQ page.

Help with understanding how the BIOS Data Viewer works is available on the BIOS home page (see Getting Started and Data Viewer Tutorials). Metadata and explanations of the fields and codes used in the Spotted Owl Database are available with the shapefiles packaged with CNDDB/RareFind or by using the Metadata button in the tool bar of the BIOS Data Viewer.

The Future of the Database

The 2012 database update was an important step forward in our effort to make high-quaility information about Spotted Owls readily available to foresters, managers, consultants, and researchers throughout the state. Nevertheless, we are always looking for ways to improve. Although the database currently contains well over 100,000 records spanning the past 40 years, it is a dynamic tool that requires regular maintenance and a near-constant input of new data. In the past, the majority of observations have been voluntarily provided to CDFW by numerous individuals and organizations throughout the state. We appreciate the past and current generosity of our contributors in helping us maintain the database and we look forward to continued collaboration in the future.

We plan to continue updating the database on a monthly basis. We are extremely interested in obtaining new observations, particularly data from the past 5 years. Although we are prioritizing entry of recent owl locations and observations that represent new activity centers, older information and “no response” survey results are also very valuable. Additionally, we are interested in observations of Barred Owls and hybrids for a future update of our Barred Owl database. To meet these goals, CDFW has hired a full-time biologist to manage the database, maintain working relationships with past and current contributors, and reach out to potential future collaborators.

Our Spotted Owl Database Manager, Michael Hardy, has received a BS in Wildlife and an MS in Natural Resources with an emphasis in Wildlife from Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA. Michael has a strong background working with special-status bird species and he has ample previous experience compiling, managing, and analyzing large long-term datasets. Please contact Michael at (916) 445-5006 or send an email to our account for questions, comments, suggestions, or information about contributing data.