Friends of Cortes Island will be hosting an event this week to share positive news from a Western Screech Owl study currently in progress: there is evidence of a local habitat. The threatened species is the focus of what has become a three-year project for FOCI, with the organization already confirming evidence of the small owl from audio footage.

Executive director of FOCI Helen Hall elaborated on the encouraging find from the study.

“We thought they might not be here anymore," Hall said. "And the last time we heard them there was a recording of them was in 2017. We had been searching for them all last spring and this spring and we finally have found one in the north of Cortes.”

The Western Screech Owl relies on old growth forest for its habitat, so the species is threatened due to ongoing commercial deforestation in British Columbia, according to Hall. Cortes Island is unique in that some remaining old growth forest stands housing a variety of threatened species. FOCI will continue the data collection this spring, followed by analysis and reporting through 2024. Later this year, FOCI plans to host owl nest building workshops and work with landowners to install the nest boxes.

The FOCI event on Saturday (March 25) will be hosted at Linnaea Farm, where ecosystem biologist Emily Upham-Mills will be presenting on the local research. There will also be owl-shaped cookies served by local chef Julie Keith.

To find out more about the local research on this sensational strigiformes, listen to the CKTZ News Update below: