One very important step is getting a handle on the populations of owls, says Holt. “The truth is, for most species, we don’t know the numbers.” Owl populations are not easy to monitor. Some species move around with the seasons and from year to year in pursuit of pockets of reliable prey, and their movements are still not well understood, so they’re hard to keep track of. Most studies collect data for a few seasons at most, “and there’s no way that short-term studies can provide robust data,” says Holt. “There are just too many fluctuations. To get a true picture of populations, you need to
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