DISCUSSION 

 Intensive studies by Hayward et al. (1987) and Bondrup - 

 Nielson (1984) , show only potentially breeding males call, implying 

 that the presence of calling owls indicates a breeding population. 

 Therefore, the presence of calling boreal owls in the study area 

 indicates that boreal owls nest in the Little Belt Mountains. The 

 results of this survey should only be considered an indication of 

 boreal owl activity and locations since the data gathered cannot be 

 used to provide estimates of population levels or density within 

 the study area. 



Factors affecting the responses of boreal owls to call 

 playback survey technigues are numerous. The single most important 

 variable negatively affecting response is wind (Smith 1987 and 

 Palmer 1987) . We experienced numerous evenings that the wind 

 canceled or shortened surveys and therefor we did not cover some 

 areas that we feel have potential for boreal owl observations. The 

 only previous surveys attempted on the district ended without any 

 calling on three nights due to high winds and snow (Escano 1984) . 



All boreal owl locations in this survey except one were in 

 timber stands classified as lodgepole. The other was in a whitebark 

 pine stand. These findings are different than those found in the 

 Bitterroot Divide (Holt and Hillis 1987), central Idaho (Hayward 

 et. al. 1984), and southwest Montana (Mullen 1990) which all found 

 boreal owls in spruce/fir forest types, although Escano (1984) 

 reported that surveys on the Beaverhead National Forest located 4 



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