Shulian-4.5.09-Screech Owl Research (Andy Stone Interview)

Yesterday Ava, and my mom Elyse and I went to New Jersey to visit my mom’s old friend Andy Stone.  Andy is a Director at a non-profit group called The Trust for Public Land, which is an organization that works to preserve land and maintain animal habitats, among other things.  Andy and his six-year-old son Adam picked all of us up at the train station and drove us to his house to get some lunch.  While we were eating our bagels we interviewed Andy.  Andy’s interview mainly centered on his own knowledge of habitats and birds compared to just the Screech Owl.  At first I was apprehensive about interviewing him, because he doesn’t exactly work with the owls, so his answers might not have been beneficial.  However after interviewing him I realized that Andy really knows what he is doing, and that apprehensive attitude disappeared.  We learned a lot yesterday, but three new facts that we learned are… 

• 1.  Andy believes that our topic of Screech Owls is sustainable because the status of one species affects another species.  An example of this is the food chain.  If there are more horned owls, a species that preys on Screech Owls, there will probably be a rapid decline of Screech Owls, and an increase of a Screech Owls’ favorite meal, rodents.  Or there could be an under population of prey.  Everything is intertwined, that is why we have to work hard to save the Screech Owl species because by just saving one, we are really saving many different species of animals.  (This fact I am going to save for our teach-in because it was really helpful and one of the clearer responses we received.) 
• 2.  We also learned that that Andy was indifferent about the bird-calling machine.  He disliked the fact that it stresses the owls out and if played too often may interfere with their mental health.  However, he says that since birdcalls help people see the birds it acts as awareness/education.  The more people know about something, the more they will do to help it. 
• 3.  One reason Andy thinks the owls disappeared in the first place is because some owls only like to nest in one type of tree.  If those kinds of trees are cut down or diseased, the owls would have no other place to nest of their choosing and that fact can ultimately kill them. 

Andy was very helpful, and the entire time of our stay gave us useful information on topics such as habitat or predators and prey.  His interview definitely broadened our approach on the owls and made us realize that so many topics center on just one creature.  Below is a picture of Andy and his son Adam.  (See the next post for details of our adventure to The Raptor Trust.)