Barred Owls
Barred owls are an interesting example of an invasive species. They’re actually native to the eastern half of North America. But it’s strongly suspected that human activity around the turn of the 20th century changed the surrounding landscape dramatically enough that it allowed the owls to expand westward. And once they did, they started outcompeting the already endangered northern spotted owls living in the Pacific Northwest and, more recently, California.
In recent years, Oregon has started programs testing whether removing barred owls can help northern spotted owls rebound. So far, the results have been encouraging, with the removals seemingly stopping the long-term population decline of native owls in that area. Spotted owls have other problems to deal with, such as general habitat loss, but humans just might be able to fix one of the many problems we’ve created for the endangered owls.
