With funding from the BC government, the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) conservation and education society is taking part in a “threatened species” field research project aimed at determining the local status of the Western Screech Owl. The launch began with a public notice to Cortes Islanders on February 23rd and includes an evening presentation with a field biologist on March 7th.

Executive Director Helen Hall says data is relayed directly to government biologists who interpret the information. It’s used to inform conservation efforts, which can include protecting sensitive habitats.

Hall says two data collection systems are used, conveying much information about the ecosystem studied beyond the primary species focused on. Both systems are auditory: one plays the owl’s call for potential responses in habitat preferred by the owls, and the other records all sound within range of a recorder for two weeks, in targeted locations, creating an audio landscape. 

The just launched FOCI coordinated Western Screech Owl project includes four of the Discovery islands, located between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island: Cortes, Read, Sonora, and Maurelle. 

Hall is hopeful FOCI’s application for an additional two years of gathering data on the Western Screech Owl and its shared ecosystem will be approved so that observing species and their environment over time provides useful insights into our changing world.

Find out more in the CKTZ News report below: