When I went down a taxonomy rabbit hole and saw the map of barn owl observations, it looked bizarrely empty in Nevada This is probably a silly question… but are there intentional culling events/population control policies or something? Is it due to habitat loss? Or does the natural range of the bar…

Much of Nevada is either too arid and/or too high elevation for Barn Owls. For this reason, Barn Owls are most prevalent in the northwestern valleys and the southern tip. This seems to track with the iNat observations for the state: [image] I think a lot of Barn Owls in Nevada also roost/nest in o…

Only half-joking, but I think the population of barns in Nevada is lacking. I’ve hardly seen any driving there (though I’ve only been in limited portions of the state) probably because the climate limits agriculture to less barn-intensive types than other states. I would guess that it’s a combinatio…

I’m not by any means a population expert or anything, but something I’d like to add is that Nevada is somewhat sparsely populated and they are most common in agricultural areas so therefore the amount of people would see them if they are present is probably low. Then, the people who would see them a…

That’s interesting, thanks for the info!

This isn’t really a barn owl specific phenomenon. Many animals (including humans), are more sparsely populated in Nevada and the intermountain region in general. It turns out it’s not easy to inhabit hot and arid environments. Nevada in particular is mostly all desert.

[image] swampster: I think a lot of Barn Owls in Nevada also roost/nest in old abandoned mines. Obviously, these are not as accessible to human observers compared to the barns, old silos, and nest boxes they use in other parts of their range. I think this is likely the case. Nevada has lots o…

Why is Nevada so sparse in Barn owls?

Nature Talk

jnstuart March 20, 2024, 2:49pm 5

eBird might be better for Nevada records as those don’t rely on getting a photo. But I also agree with previous comments about habitat and accessibility in Nevada.

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Why is Nevada so sparse in Barn owls?

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