Manitoba Nocturnal Owls Survey

Birds Canada
https://www.birdscanada.org

Manitoba Conservation
http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/wildlife/

Project name: Manitoba Nocturnal Owl Survey

Goals : To obtain information on owl distribution, estimate their relative abundance, estimate trends in their population, and determine habitat associations of owls.

Dataset summary : Most species of owls are nocturnal and are therefore poorly monitored by existing multi-species surveys, such as the breeding bird survey, migration Monitoring, and Christmas bird counts. Information on distribution, abundance, and population trends of Manitoba owls is required to monitor their conservation status. Manitoba Nocturnal Owl Survey was initiated in 1991 to: Obtain information on owl distribution, estimate their relative abundance, estimate trends in their population, determining habitat associations of owls.

Status : Active

Year started : 1990

Frequency : Annually

Geographic area covered : Manitoba

Type(s) of habitat : Mostly forest

Primary species covered : Four target species are Great Grey Owl, Barred Owl, Boreal Owl and Northern Saw-whet Owl??

Sampling Design : Randomly selected routes

Field methods : Similar to other roadside surveys using tape playback. Two volunteers drive pre-determined route, stopping at fixed intervals (1.6 km apart) along roadside. At each stop, timed listening periods. Surveyor identifies and records all owls seen or heard during each listening period. Surveys begin one half hour after sunset during a single evening in April and take approximately 3 hours to complete (not including travel time to and from the survey route).

Sample size : 57 routes in 2000?

Funding sources : MNR

Applications for the data : Counts used for statistical analysis of population trends

Users of the information : BSC, other conservation organizations, raptor biologists