Here is the Information you requested about The Mexican Spotted Owl. I know you wanted to use selective breeding to make money with it, so here is the information you will need:
- Kingdom -Animalia
- Phylum -Craniata
- Class -Aves
- Order Strigiformes
- Family - Strigidae
- Genus - Strix
- Subspecies -S. occidentalis
Three of the adaptations for the Mexican Spotted Owl are:
- The brown and white spots on their feathers. These spots camoflauge the Mexican Spotted Owl from predators and prey. These owls sit in trees waiting on rodents to eat, and the spots help them blend in with the trees, without being detected.
- The talons these owls have are perfect for picking up rodents, birds and insects. They are also useful when these owls are perching in trees all day.
- The Mexican Spotted Owl also has dark eyes, while most owls eyes are light. This is because they do a majority of their hunting at night, and they are less likely to be spotted with dark eyes.
For our selective breeding puposes, I think we can use the talons to make jewelry. We can fasten them to leather necklaces and sell them in stores all over the country. This owl is in more southern state so I think alot of people up north would buy them. By selectively breeding the owls, we can have more talons to make necklaces with. We can even make them diferent sizes so children and adults can wear the necklaces.
We would have to travel to the mountains to find these birds, and even some caves and forests. But I don't know how well they will survive back in the lab. They have a very big wing span, and they may feel too confined. Also, their breeding habits may not fall in line with our experiment. They may only lay eggs at certain times a year. And even still, if they only lay a few eggs at a time, there is no telling how long this could take.
When I began planning this experiment, I realized that we may come up with a new species of owl. Their eyes may become lighter, and their talons may come out different when they are no longer going to be living in the mountains. Also, the color of their feathers may even change because they won't need to camoflauge themselves from the same predators.
All in all, I can see us making a huge profit off of these necklaces. I think we would have a very good market to sell to in the northern states, and even in the southern states, where people are used to seeing these birds, and want a piece of nature for themselves. I know these owls are endangered, but if we selectively breed our own, I'm sure we can make up for the losses, and maybe even help.
Sources:
Defenders of Wildlife
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/spotted_owl,_mexican.php
Mexican Spotted Owl
http://www.pima.gov/cmo/sdcp/species/fsheets/mso.html
