Northern Pygmy Owl Sighting
Monday, December 8th, 2008Penelope Adams writes:
I am trying very hard to feed birds in my back yard. A good friend who lives outside Nanaimo found a Northern Pygmy Owl on his patio after the poor thing smashed into his patio window. He lived thanks to my friend who scooped him up and sat with him until he felt better. How rare is this bird in the area?
Lindsay replies:
According to the BC Conservation Data Centre , the bird is an island subspecies of Northern Pygmy Owl which is endemic (native) to Vancouver Island.
All but the northern pygmy-owl, are yellow-listed in BC, according to the Conservation Data Centre (2003), and the populations are therefore considered to be secure and not at risk of extinction. The swarthi subspecies of the northern pygmy-owl occurs only on Vancouver Island (Fraser et al., 1999) and is blue-listed in BC as vulnerable, or particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events (Fraser et al., 1999).
You can post your sighting here and you can learn more about species at risk in your area of Nanaimo here .
And if you’re a bird watcher, do sign up for David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge. We just produced an edition about saving boreal birds. You can sign a petition as well as sign your name to a BC specific campaign to get a law for endangered species.