A bird of dense, dark, old-growth or mixed mature and old-growth coniferous forests, the Spotted Owl is usually associated with Douglas-Fir, mature cottonwoods, alders, oaks, and sycamores, especially along steep-walled river valleys. They favor forests with an uneven canopy. The nest is made of sticks and can be in abandoned hawk nests, clumps of mistletoe, in large tree cavities, on broken tops of large trees, on large branches, or cavities in banks and rock faces, and the same nest is used by a pair year after year.
