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Abstract

Understanding birds' evolving responses to urbanization is an essential aspect of contemporary biology, and knowledge of the responses of nocturnal species lags behind that of diurnal species. In this issue of Western Birds, Jonah Gula addresses the occurrence of the Western Screech-Owl in a mosaic of oak woodland, chaparral, and residential development in the foothills of San Diego County, California. He found the owl more reliably in larger patches of woodland and in patches adjacent to undeveloped chaparral. But the distance to and size of the next nearest patch of woodland were unrelated to the owl's occurrence, suggesting the birds disperse readily across the habitats separating the woodland patches.