1936 Addition of Spotted Owl - USFS History

U.S. Forest Service History > Policy > Wildlife > Northern Spotted Owl > 1936 Addition of Spotted Owl

1936: Addition of spotted owl as a protected migratory bird

At the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Game Mammals (United States and Mexico) on February 7, 1936, the spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) was added to the list of protected migratory birds.

There are three subspecies of spotted owl: the northern (S.o. caurina) which ranges from southwestern British Columbia through the coastal ranges to central California; the California (S.o. occidentalis), which lives in the coastal mountains and western slopes of the Sierra Nevada; and the Mexican (S.o. lucida), which inhabits areas on both sides of the border with Mexico and into Arizona, New Mexico, southeastern Utah, southern Colorado, and extreme northwestern Texas. Although spotted owls generally do not migrate, the regulations and listings did not distinguish between the subspecies so in effect all of them were included.