Ryan Wickiser is a field biologist who has studied California spotted owls in Eldorado National Forest. This work enabled him to become intimately acquainted with this rarely seen species. He gets to know them so well, in fact, that he’s able to identify them by their unique hoot patterns! Host Kelly Ball asks him how forestry and conservation practices have evolved over time; why barred owls are considered an invasive species in the Pacific Northwest; and about the other species, such as northern goshawks and great gray owls, that he surveys as part of his work as a wildlife technician.