Maine Owl Monitoring Program 

What is MOMP?      

MOMP stands for Maine Owl Monitoring Program. This is a program run by Maine Audubon as a way to keep track of owl populations all over the state. During the months of March and April, volunteers pick one night to go out and listen to owl calls. They play a recording of three different species of owls and listen for any owls to respond to the recording.
The information gathered from these observations help Maine Audubon to learn more about fluctuations in owl populations in the state.

How is the school involved?

Every year, with the help of Dave Potter, Unity College is in charge of running four routes for the Audubon. Two routes are run by Dave Potter and students from his Biology II class, while the other two are run by route leaders.

What happens on an owl survey?

 Owl surveys are conducted late in the evening between the hours of one and five in the morning. The weather must be clear with very little wind and/or precipitation. Each team is given two data sheets; one to record the wind, noise, precipitation, etc and the other is to record the number of owls heard and the times they were heard.
 At the beginning of the survey the team leader fills in their name and the names of the assistants. (It is always a good idea to have more than one person doing this for safety concerns and there is a better chance of hearing calls. One person is more apt to miss out on some calls.)  The date, route name and number are also recorded.
 The team leader should prepare the cd with the three owl calls on it that is given to them by Maine Audubon. The first track on the cd plays the calls at the proper times.

At Each Stop:
 On the first page of the data sheets the team leader must record the start time, air temperature, cloud cover, wind, noise level, precipitation, snow cover, whether or not they hear any frogs, and keep count of how many cars drive by.
 When the team is ready to begin, they listen for three minutes to see if any owls are calling before the calls are played. After the three minutes are up, track number one is played on the cd and any calls that are heard are recorded on the second data sheet. The species is recorded along with what time during the survey the owl was heard. Each stop lasts for thirteen minutes.
 This process is repeated at ten different stops for each route.

Link to Data Sheets:

http://www.maineaudubon.org/conserve/citsci/documents/winter08datasheet.pdf 

Unity College is beginning to collaborate with MIT to test a new project that has been set forth for documenting owl calls. The Owl Project is a new way to document owl calls through the use of a cell phone. To learn more about this project, follow the links below.

The Owl Project: MIT Media Lab

http://owlproject.media.mit.edu/ 

MIT and Maine Audubon pair up for Owl Project

http://www.maineaudubon.org/conserve/citsci/owl_mit.shtml