You can help survey for owls in your home province of Canada. You won’t see many owls at night, but you may hear a Barred Owl calling, along with other owls, during a Nocturnal Owl Survey.

Initiated and coordinated by Bird Studies Canada, you can join more than 1,000 volunteers and biologists who spend one spring evening identifying and counting owls along isolated roads to document population trends and nesting range limits of owl species across Canada. By identifying and counting owl species by their calls, Nocturnal Owl Survey participants collect information about owl distribution and abundance along annual survey routes, which is essential for developing sound conservation strategies, identifying species in need of conservation action, and evaluating the effectiveness of management programs.

Owls are directly affected by changes in forest habitats, and while these important avian predators are relatively easy to identify, they can be difficult to monitor because they are nocturnal and tend to nest early in the season. Nocturnal Owl Surveys provide an important step in better understanding owl populations, province by province across Canada, and they can use more help from birders. If you live near Canada's great forests and can spare an evening this spring, consider contacting the Regional Owl Survey Program to volunteer at https://www.birdscanada.org/volunteer/natowls/index.jsp?targetpg=index

Bird Studies Canada thanks all the volunteers and conservation partners who support Nocturnal Owl Surveys each year. To get insights into the owls being reported by province or region, and to receive a copy of the Guidelines for Nocturnal Owl Monitoring in North America, please refer to https://www.birdscanada.org/news/owl-survey-updates-from-east-to-west