Barred owls are here

First it was the rumors: "The barred owls are coming." Next, it was the dire warning that barred owls were going to either chase the northern spotted owl out of the northwest, or breed with them.

In the 1980s one turned up in Alfalfa, and then about five years ago another strayed into Tumalo State Park on the Deschutes River, and another down near Crescent; then recently one was seen hanging around the Old Mill District in Bend. Just a while back, Gary Landers, of Wild Wings Raptor Rehab Center, picked one up near Madras where it was injured with a collision with a motor vehicle.

And now one is here in Sisters.

John Gerke and the counters of the Sisters Christmas Bird Count turned up one very near Sisters Elementary School, and it's still here.

Last Wednesday, Peggy Tehan, who lives north of Sisters Elementary School, called to report one hanging around her place. That's the owl pictured above.

Barred owls have been steadily moving westward across the North American continent via clear cuts.

Unlike the spotted owl, who is a specialist and concentrates on boreal rodents, the barred will gobble up just about anything it can find. Because they are close relatives, the fear they will mate with the spotted owls may be real, and it's almost for certain that as it is with many alien invaders - like starlings - they may eat their cousins out of house and home.

If you spot what you think may be a barred owl, contact Jim Anderson at [email protected]