Small mountain owls are referred to as Tengmalm’s Owl (Aegolius funereus) and European Owl (Glaucidium passerinum). They are two boreal species of heavily wooded cold climate forest environments. They inhabit the French mountain forests (Vosges, Jura, Alps and Pyrenees), but may also frequent areas of lower plateaus (Côte d’Or, Ardennes for Tengmalm; plains forests in Germany and Poland for Chevêchette). They use cavities drilled by woodpeckers, in healthy or dead trees to nest.

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Both are listed in Annex 1 of Directive 79/409/EEC (Habitat Conservation Measures Obligation) and Annex 2 of the Berne Convention (Commitment to Protect the Living Environment).

Since 2007, a national network has been created by the collaboration between the Ligue de Protection des Oiseaux (LPO) and the National Forestry Office (NFB) in order to improve knowledge on these two species in France, allowing to better know the conservation status, and the evolution of their populations. For this purpose a national monitoring protocol is put in place at sites of known presence of the species, but also on unknown areas and to be explored.

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The Nature Reserve has renewed the implementation of the protocol in the territory for the third consecutive year. These are two fixed transects, with 5 listening points, to be explored twice. Two weeks separate the first and the second passage. 

RNNHCJ 2021 follow-up video ⤵️