#2 A friend claims that the Spotted Owl (an endagered species) is being threatened more by the Barred Owl than it is by humans. Is this true?

From the National Park Services (November 24, 2017):

In Redwood National and State Parks we have documented many barred owls, and many have taken up residence in spotted owl territories, sometimes usurping the exact same nest tree previously used by a spotted owl pair. When two very similar species use the same space at the same time, usually one loses out. In our case, the smaller, less aggressive, spotted owls either move out of their established territories, or become mostly silent so they are very difficult to detect. Silence is detrimental to a species that relies on a variety of vocalizations to attract mates and defend territories. If spotted owls are forced out of their territory there really isn’t anywhere else for them to go; barred owls have saturated most all suitable forested habitat in the parks, including old-growth and older second growth forests. Only time will tell if the spotted owl is able to adapt quickly enough to persist as a species in the face of the barred owl invasion.