Joe Medley

Graduate Student in Avian Sciences

MS Avian in progress, University of California, Davis CA

Office Phone:(530) 754-5186

Research Interests

• Ecology of raptors

• Avian ecology

• GIS-based habitat Suitability Analysis

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below are photos Joe took of his study animal, Great Gray Owl in Sierra Nevada Mtns, Calif.

Current Projects

Ecology and Conservation of Great Gray Owls (Strix nebulosa) in the central Sierra Nevada.

The Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa)(GGOW) is a California State-endangered raptor that is distributed in the central Sierra Nevada. Despite State-endangered status, GGOWs have received limited research attention and significant scientific data gaps exist regarding information necessary to formulate comprehensive and scientifically-defensible management and monitoring strategies.
The core breeding distribution of GGOWs in California is centered on Yosemite National Park and the immediately adjacent and surrounding Stanislaus, Sierra, and Sequoia National Forests, with a few additional documented pairs in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park (Winter 1986, Rich 2000). Available evidence indicates that GGOWs have a very limited and isolated distribution in California. The California population is the southern-most population in North America, with the closest known breeding population occurring in southern Oregon (Bull and Duncan 1997).

Joe and other lab members of Wildlife and Ecology Unit are involved in a collaborative research effort involving the US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, California Department of Fish and Game, Bureau of Land Management Oregon, US National Parks Service, and Lindsay Wildlife Museum Wildlife Hospital to determine the habitat requirements and ecology of Great Gray Owls in the Sierra Nevada.