Spotted owls were once regular residents of the Pacific Northwest forests where we live. We have never seen them there, even after living on the Olympic Peninsula for nearly 30 years: the scarcity is due to cutting down the old-growth trees where the owls live and find their prey (they eat lots of flying squirrels). The patchy forests that are left provide habitat for a different kind of owl, the Barred Owl–a species that outcompetes the Spotted Owl and actually kills the Spotted Owl.

We were hiking to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and along the trail there was a Spotted Owl roosting about 15’ up in a tree right over the trail. It mostly slept while we watched, but it did turn its head down at me for this portrait.

This is a subspecies of the Spotted Owl, the Mexican Spotted Owl, which is genetically a bit different from the Spotted Owls of the Pacific Northwest.

SIZE: This photograph is printed at an approximate final size of a bit over 3x3,” and is printed on cotton rag photographic paper using pigmented inks for an estimated 400-year display life.

LIMITED EDITION: This photographic print is part of a limited edition produced by photographer Lee Rentz. The edition consists of 250 prints, which includes all sizes and methods of printing.