Northern spotted owls' populations have plummeted 40 percent in the past 25 years, reported CNN. The owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) became the poster bird for protection of the Pacific Northwest's old growth forests in the 1980 and '90s.

The barred owl (Strix varia) may be as much of a threat to spotted owls as the cutting of old growth forest. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed hunting down the barred owl bullies, but conservationists cried fowl, er, foul and worry the barred owls may be scapegoats.