this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2026
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From Misty Briggs

It has been a great year so far for rare Owls visiting Maricopa County (Arizona, USA) like this healthy Mexican Spotted Owl (a subspecies of Spotted Owl). They prefer high-elevation, mature forests, making their presence in the low-elevation, amid urban environment of Phoenix highly unusual.

Per the Googs: Several reasons are increasing loss of habitat, avoiding harsh weather conditions (known as altitudinal migration) and easier hunting.

Truly a gift.

I'll include this Audubon article on some examples of alititudinal migration to give you some examples and also a look into the pros/cons for the birds.

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[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

But . . . But it looks like a barred owl!

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The backside is where the spots are that are the major giveaway it's a Spotted Owl.

There are a lot of owls with similar characteristics in genus Strix. If you hover over the list here on the wiki page, they pop up for a quick comparison.

Spotted Owls are sadly rapidly disappearing, so Barred Owls will be immensely more common here in North America. They are close enough they can have hybrid babies, though this is considered very controversial with the efforts to save the species as its own distinct thing.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Ahhh. The genus Strix. Well, I guess that’s fair enough.

Paradise Theatre was a pretty good album.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Domo arigato 😄