Article

Trends in North American small mammals found in common barn-owl (Tyto alba) dietary studies

February 2011
69(12):3093-3102

Authors:

Data on mammals were compiled from published studies of common barn-owl (Tyto alba) pellets. Mammalian composition of pellet samples was analyzed within geographic regions in regard to year, mean annual precipitation, latitude, and number of individual mammals in the sample. Percentages of individuals in pellets that were shrews increased whereas the percentages of rodents decreased with greater mean annual precipitation, especially in northern and western areas of North America. From the 1920s through 1980s, in northern and eastern areas the percentage of species that was shrews decreased, and in northern and central areas the percentage of individuals that was murid rats and mice increased. Human alterations of habitats during these seven decades are postulated to have caused changes in available small mammals, leading to changes in the barn-owl diet.

An attempt to determine the size of the Common Barn-owl’s (Tyto alba) hunting area based on its prey composition

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

The relative abundance of small mammal species detected from Common Barn-owl pellets reflects the landscape structure and habitat pattern of the owl’s hunting area, but it is also affected by the size of the collected pellet sample and the size of the supposed hunting area. The questions arise: how many pellets should be collected and analyzed as well as how large hunting area should be taken into consideration in order to reach the best correspondence between the owl’s prey composition and the distribution of habitats preferred by small mammals preyed in supposed hunting areas? For this study, we collected 1045 Common Barn-owl pellets in a village in southern Hungary. All detected small mammal species were classified into functional groups (guilds) preferring urban, open, forest and wetland habitats. The proportion of functional groups was compared to the proportion of these habitats around the pellet collection site within circles of one, two, and three kmradius. Saturation curves showed that at least 300 pellets or ca. 600 mammalian remains are required for the detection of the 19 small mammal species. The share of small mammals detected in the prey and their functional groups according to their habitat preference showed an increasing consistency with the distribution of real habitats in the potential hunting area of a radius of 3 km around the owl’s breeding or resting place.

Artificial-Nest Rainwater-Harvesting with Fishery and Floating-or-Rooftop-Gardening Act as 21st Century COVID-19 Epidemic-Model: Improved Biodiversity Agriculture Socio-Economic Civil-Engineering Environmental-Sciences Technology-Communication

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2020

Dr. Subhas Chandra Datta

Introduction: The past-two-decades have faced many-viral-epidemics. The present threat-COVID-19 causes great-loss of human-lives, change human-civilization, public health, agriculture, travel, socioeconomic, education, civil-engineering, environmental-sciences and clinical-research also. There are no proper-effective-treatmentmethods. The low-income-households, senior-citizens, and street-children are not able to manage. So the whole world as well as the Government of India tries to reorient for the COVID-19 epidemic-crisis, by developing policy-initiative. So it is emphasis on the conservation of biodiversity, agriculture, socio-economic, civil-engineering, and environmental-sciences, for preventive-measures against “21st century-various-human-diseases like COVID-19-Pandemic”. Methods: In the two ecofriendly localities; rural and urban areas, where constructs or set up different types of artifi cial-nests in the building as well as in the trees, rainwater-harvesting with fi shery, and nutritional-garden, forming the common-complex-ecosystem with landscaping by trees, garden, midday-meals, store-grains reservoir’s, playground, pond, and river with agriculture. Result: Various kinds of birds, rats, mice, moles, bats, squirrels, mongooses, insets, toads, snakes, and other animals, are the regular visitors. But the owls apparently act as a keystone-species within these food-chain-relationships. Rats that happen to spoil food items of mid-day-meals, store-rooms, and documents are checked by barn-owl. Bats make building dirty by their excreta are also controlled by this owl. Different pests and mongoose, which are found to signifi cantly reduce food production in agriculture, pisciculture, tsar-industries, hatcheries, and poultry-farm, are appreciably kept on top of things. And, improves midday-meal, arouses the interest of locality on ecology-food-chain-relationships-issues, and contributes to sustainable-pisciculture-pond, agriculture, and kitchen-garden-management, micro-and macro- climate issues, and also community-health also. It’s worth mentioning that the hooter plays the role of the simplest carnivore, predating on mongoose juveniles and bats, thecarrier of coronavirus, again confi rming the “Biological and Bio-System-Engineering-Owl Controlled COVID-19 Engineering Bio-mechanical Biomedical-Science-Technology- Communication-Enriched-Agriculture-Environment with Joyful-Environment and Bat Secrets of Immunity Could Confi rm the Clues to Treating-COVID-19”. Conclusion: So the artifi cial-nest, rainwater-harvesting with fi shery and fl oating-gardening shaded by solar-panel supplying-electricity for oxygen-producing-motor in water, OR rooftop-gardening attached with ‘Bird’s-/ Sky-Observer-Balcony’, act as 21st-century civil-engineering COVID-19-epidemic-model which improved biodiversity, agriculture, environmental-sciences, technology-communication, socio-economy-welfare, developing the future-policy; the theme “Vision-2040” that would retain the human civilization’s in old-forms because “Happiness brings good-health-and-wellbeing with the help of civil-engineering-and-environmental-biologist”.

A Nemzeti Biodiverzitás-monitorozó Rendszer Eredményei II. - Results of the Hungarian Biodiversity Monitoring System II.

Book

Full-text available

Aug 2019

CONTENTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Előszó (Balczó Bertalan) Bevezető (Váczi Olivér) Az ürge hosszútávú, országos monitorozása (Váczi Olivér) Distribution and monitoring of European Ground Squirrel in Hungary – Summary Kisemlősök táj- és időfüggő előfordulási mintázata és mennyiségük éves változása gyöngybagoly, Tyto alba köpetvizsgálat alapján (Horváth F. Győző, Horváth Adrienn, Boldogh Sándor András, Szentgyörgyi Péter, Estók Péter, Dudás Miklós, Endes Mihály, Kalivoda Béla és Mátics Róbert) Annual and landscape dependent change of small mammals’ occurrence and abundance on the basis of Common Barn-owl Tyto alba pellet analysis – Summary “Hogy vagytok denevérek?” – a monitorozó program első 15 évének néhány eredménye (Boldogh Sándor András, Estók Péter, Hegyi Zoltán, Dobrosi Dénes, Görföl Tamás, Bihari Zoltán, Dombi Imre, Gombkötő Péter, Paulovics Péter, Mészáros József, Máté Balázs, Bereczky Attila, Szatyor Miklós, Géczi István) “How are you bats?” Some results of the first 15 years of the national biomonitoring programme – Summary Kétéltűek és hüllők monitorozása Magyarország kilenc tájegységében (Kiss István, Babocsay Gergely, Bakó Botond, Dankovics Róbert, Deme Tamás, Kovács Tibor, Szénási Valentin, Vági Balázs és Vörös Judit) Monitoring of amphibians and reptiles at nine regions of Hungary, within the frame of the Hungarian Biodiversity Monitoring System – Summary Halközösségek monitorozása Magyarország különböző típusú állóvizeiben és vízfolyásokban (2001-2018) (Sallai Zoltán, Varga Ildikó & Erős Tibor) Monitoring of fish assemblages in different type of freshwater habitats in Hungary (2001-2018) – Summary A Vadonleső Program első évtizedének tapasztalatai (Vadonleső Csoport) Experiences of the first decade of the WildWatcher Programme - Summary

Enriched School Health for the Effective Healthcare Bio-Activity of Barn Owls

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2019

Dr. Subhas Chandra Datta

Kanchannagar D.N.Das High School (HS), Kanchannagar, Purba Bardhaman-713102,West Bengal, India, is situated besides the Damodar river and is surrounded by ponds- and agriculture- fields. The school campus, prevails the main old- and tall- tree of banyan tree (Ficus bengalensis) with other trees, nutritional garden with midday meal, exhibited an enriched faunal diversity comprising small mammals, reptiles, toads, small birds and insects. Midday meal in a school depends on quality and supply of healthy foods which are depend on the habitants in the school environment. The rats were spoiling the foods for mid-day meal, rooms, important documents and materials in the school. Once the bats in the banyan tree began to make the school building dirty by their excreta. Different pests significantly reduce food production in the nutritious kitchen garden in school. The pesticides are the most effective means of control, but they are expensive and not environment friendly. To move forward, it will require new and more efficient solutions, technologies, products and it has to fulfill all requirements. Our best endeavor is to focus on the barn owl (Tyto alba Scopoli) which may have important economic implications for school environment as well as agriculture in future. Observations on the dietary habits and behaviors of the barn owl occupying a wooden nest were recorded in September 2018-February 2019 at school. During six months of observations, total consumed animals of barn owl, are analyzed from the regurgitated pellets; rats, mice and moles remained the highest as owls dietary proportions (58.13%), bats (13.57%), mongoose (10.41%), squirrels (8.89%), small birds like babblers etc (6.32%), insects (2.22%) and others animals like toads etc (0.47%). Due to mid day meal within the school campus and owl’s clear vision during the night, it preferred to consume a variety of rodents inhabiting the kitchen stored as well as school campus. Food grains of mid day meal attracts rodents resulting a rapid increase of rats and mice but the presence of owl compel them to run away from the premises and they become guards for the cleanliness of the school. It can, therefore, serve as a useful “Healthcare Bio-Controller” i.e. Biological Bird of Prey. Their breeding helps to escalate the vegetation system of the school area and made the ponds clean; directly emphasized the ecosystem. Evidently, the barn owl would ensure a substantial management of ecosystem for better growth of economically important crops and their management in agriculture, horticulture as well as pisiculture also. And improves midday meal by supplying quality vegetables also and it would not only be easier way, easily available, cheap but also conserve our biodiversity and improves school environment which will contribute towards “Sustainable Climate, School Health and Development with Joyful learning environment”. They are also opening a path of research for the students of our school who are observing them closely. We are amazed to find the coexistence of predator and prey on the same platform where owls and pigeons are found busy in incubation. It does not attacking the pigeons. Owls do not cause any harm to the other resident birds within the campus also and directly or indirectly they are helping us in various ways. They realize the meaning of relationship so they did not feel irritating when visitors, school students went to meet them. Keywords: School health; Barn owls; Healthcare bio-controller; Midday meal; Regurgitated pellets

Enriched School Environment for the Effective Bio-Activity of Barn Owls

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2019

Dr. Subhas Chandra Datta

Damodar river and is surrounded by ponds- and agriculture- fields. The school campus, prevails the main old- and tall- tree of banyan tree (Ficus bengalensis) with other trees, nutritional garden with midday meal, exhibited an enriched faunal diversity comprising small mammals, reptiles, toads, small birds and insects. Midday meal in a school depends on quality and supply of healthy foods which are depend on the habitants in the school environment. The rats were spoiling the foods for mid-day meal, rooms, important documents and materials in the school. Once the bats in the banyan tree began to make the school building dirty by their excreta. Different pests significantly reduce food production in the nutritious kitchen garden in school. The pesticides are the most effective means of control, but they are expensive and not environment friendly. To move forward, it will require new and more efficient solutions, technologies, products and it has to fulfill all requirements. Our best endeavor is to focus on the barn owl (Tyto alba Scopoli) which may have important economic implications for school environment as well as agriculture in future. Observations on the dietary habits and behaviors of the barn owl occupying a wooden nest were recorded in September 2018-February 2019 at school. During six months of observations, total consumed animals of barn owl, are analyzed from the regurgitated pellets; rats, mice and moles remained the highest as owls dietary proportions (58.13%), bats (13.57%), mongoose (10.41%), squirrels (8.89%), small birds like babblers etc (6.32%), insects (2.22%) and others animals like toads etc (0.47%). Due to mid day meal within the school campus and owl’s clear vision during the night, it preferred to consume a variety of rodents inhabiting the kitchen stored as well as school campus. Food grains of mid day meal attracts rodents resulting a rapid increase of rats and mice but the presence of owl compel them to run away from the premises and they become guards for the cleanliness of the school. It can, therefore, serve as a useful “Healthcare Bio-Controller” i.e. Biological Bird of Prey. Their breeding helps to escalate the vegetation system of the school area and made the ponds clean; directly emphasized the ecosystem. Evidently, the barn owl would ensure a substantial management of ecosystem for better growth of economically important crops and their management in agriculture, horticulture as well as pisiculture also. And improves midday meal by supplying quality vegetables also and it would not only be easier way, easily available, cheap but also conserve our biodiversity and improves school environment which will contribute towards “Sustainable Climate, School Health and Development with Joyful learning environment”. They are also opening a path of research for the students of our school who are observing them closely. We are amazed to find the coexistence of predator and prey on the same platform where owls and pigeons are found busy in incubation. It does not attacking the pigeons. Owls do not cause any harm to the other resident birds within the campus also and directly or indirectly they are helping us in various ways. They realize the meaning of relationship so they did not feel irritating when visitors, school students went to meet them. Keywords: School health; Barn owls; Healthcare bio-controller; Midday meal; Regurgitated pellets

Tendencias geográficas en la dieta de la lechuza común (Tyto alba) e interpretación de los patrones de riqueza de les comunidades de micromamíferos: una nueva aproximación analítica. Galemys 13 (2): 55-65.

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2001

Ignasi Torre

Barn owl (Tyto alba) predation on small mammals and its role in the control of hantavirus natural reservoirs in a periurban area in southeastern Brazil

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2008

The aim of this study was to inventory the species of small mammals in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, based on regurgitated pellets of the barn owl and to compare the frequency of rodent species in the diet and in the environment. Since in the region there is a high incidence of hantavirus infection, we also evaluate the importance of the barn owl in the control of rodents that transmit the hantavirus. Data on richness and relative abundance of rodents in the municipality were provided by the Centro de Controle de Zoonoses, from three half-yearly samplings with live traps. In total, 736 food items were found from the analysis of 214 pellets and fragments. Mammals corresponded to 86.0% of food items and were represented by one species of marsupial (Gracilinanus agilis) and seven species of rodents, with Calomys tener (70.9%) and Necromys lasiurus (6.7%) being the most frequent. The proportion of rodent species in barn owl pellets differed from that observed in trap samplings, with Calomys expulsus, C. tener and Oligoryzomys nigripes being consumed more frequently than expected. Although restricted to a single place and based on few individuals, the present study allowed the inventory of eight species of small mammals in Uberlândia. The comparison of the relative frequencies of rodent species in the diet and in the environment indicated selectivity. The second most preyed upon species was N. lasiurus, the main hantavirus reservoir in the Cerrado biome. In this way, the barn owl might play an important role in the control of this rodent in the region, contributing to the avoidance of a higher number of cases of hantavirus infection.

Spatiotemporal impacts of the Anthropocene on small mammal communities, and the role of small biological preserves in maintaining biodiversity

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2022

The multi-faceted impacts of the Anthropocene are increasingly modifying natural ecosystems and threatening biodiversity. Can small protected spaces conserve small mammal diversity across spatial and temporal scales of human impact? We identified small mammal remains from modern raptor pellets and Holocene archeological sites along a human modification gradient in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA and evaluated alpha and beta diversity across sites and time periods. We found that Shannon diversity, standardized species richness, and evenness decrease across modern sites based on level of human modification, with no corresponding change between Holocene sites. Additionally, the alpha diversity of modern sites with moderate and high levels of human modification was significantly lower than the diversity of modern sites with low levels of human modification as well as all Holocene sites. On the other hand, the small mammal communities from Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, a small protected area, retain Holocene levels of alpha diversity. Jasper Ridge has also changed less over time in terms of overall community composition (beta diversity) than more modified sites. Despite this, Holocene and Anthropocene communities are distinct regardless of study area. Our results suggest that small mammal communities today are fundamentally different from even a few centuries ago, but that even relatively small protected spaces can partially conserve native faunal communities, highlighting their important role in urban conservation.

Food-niche pattern of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in intensively cultivated agricultural landscape

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2018

This study investigated the dietary niche of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in an intensively farmed landscape, based on pellet samples from 12 nesting pairs containing 25 animal taxa and 1,994 prey items after the breeding season in 2016. Based on land use categories of the buffer area around each nest, three landscape types (agricultural, mosaic, urban) were considered, to analyse the diet composition and food-niche parameters. Niche breadth was calculated at the local and landscape level. Small mammals were the most frequent in the diet than other prey in each of the landscape types. The Common Vole (Microtus arvalis) , considered to be an important agricultural pest was the most numerous prey in all landscape groups. The trophic niche of Barn Owl varied between 0.69 – 0.86 at the local level, and the overall value of niche breadth was significantly higher in the urban than in the other two landscape types. Our results showed that the increase of Common Vole frequency lead to a decrease in niche breadth; significantly negative relationship was detected between these parameters. Despite differences in niche breadth, similarly high niche overlaps were detected by the randomisation test in the three landscapes. Our results suggest that the diet composition of Barn Owls, mainly their food-niche pattern, reflected prey availability in the comparison of the studied landscapes, which pointed out that it is necessary to examine the dietary difference of Barn Owls at the finer scale of land use.

Forty years of dietary studies on barn owl (Tyto alba) reveal long term trends in diversity metrics of small mammal prey

Article

Jun 2018
ANIM BIOL

The diet of predators is influenced by local conditions (e.g., characteristics of habitat and microhab-itat, seasonality, prey availability) and therefore tends to change across time. In this paper, the diet composition of the barn owl (Tyto alba) in Italy was studied using a meta-analysis of 47 articles (cov-ering 212 independent sites, with multiple surveys for some sites, thus giving a total of 290 datasets) between 1972 and 2012. General Linear Models were used to assess the effects of year and study site on four distinct diversity indices (species richness, dominance, Shannon-Weaver diversity and equi-tability). The year of data collection was a factor used in all analyses. Year had a greater effect than study site on all diversity indices, but the effect was not significant for the evenness and the species richness. However, dietary dominance increased significantly over the years, the Shannon-Weaver index of diversity decreased significantly over time, and equitability also decreased significantly over time. The relative abundance of various species of rodents did not increase/decrease progressively over the years, although there were inter-annual fluctuations. On the other hand, the relative abundance of insectivores tended to decrease with time, and there was a significantly negative correlation between year and the frequency of consumption of Sorex spp. and a marginally significant negative correlation for Crocidura leucodon.

Quantification and sampling of faunal remains in owl pellets

Article

Jan 2003

Diet of the Little Owl (Athene noctua) during the pre-reproductive period in a semi-arid Mediterranean region

Article

Oct 2014

Haroun Chenchouni

The assessment of feeding conditions and variations in diet composition over the pre-breeding period of birds plays a key-role in the understanding of reproductive performance. Pellets regurgitated by the Little Owl, Athene noctua, were collected from Boulhilet (Batna, northeast Algeria). The analysis of 48 pellets resulted in the identification of 471 prey-items of 38 different species classified into 6 classes, 7 orders, 21 families and 35 genera. The diet of the Little Owl is very diverse (Food Niche Breadth = 14.5, Shannon index = 4.4 bits), a variety of arthropods account for this diversity. Although insects made up 90% of the food consumed, they accounted only for 8% of the total biomass. Seventy two percent of diet biomass consisted of small mammal prey, which constitute a rich source of energy during the pre-breeding period when other prey are not available due to cold conditions. We found no significant change in rodent availability in the diet (number of prey-individuals, biomass, prey-species richness, prey-species occurrence) among study months and years. Meanwhile, the other identified prey-categories, principally invertebrates (characterized by prey frequency, composition, and biomass) showed significant variations between months and/or years of the study. We suggest that these prey categories represent a food supplement when conditions become severe.

TENDENCIAS GEOGRÁFICAS EN LA DIETA DE LA LECHUZA COMÚN (Tyto alba, SCOPOLI 1769) E INTERPRETACIÓN DE LOS PATRONES DE RIQUEZA DE LAS COMUNIDADES DE MICROMAMÍFEROS: UNA NUEVA APROXIMACIÓN ANALÍTICA

Article

Full-text available

Ignasi Torre

Geographic trends in the diet of the common barn-owl (Tyto alba, Scopoli 1769) and the interpretation of patterns of richness of small mammal communities: a new analithical approach We propose the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) as an alternative to the analysis of spatial patterns of richness (ex: index, rarefraction, etc.), a statistical technique that allows the detection of patterns after controlling for the effects of sampling effort on species-richness, one of the most influential biasing factors in these studies. We studied geographic patterns of richness of small mammal communities found in common barn-owl (Tyto alba) dietary studies conducted in Spain. We detected sample biases in all papers analysed, since richness-sample size relationships were linear and explained a great amount of variance (between 43 and 65%). Many studies rarely take account of sample sizes, and conclusions about richness of small mammal communities at spatial scales could be misunderstanding. As a whole, the

Habitat associations of small mammals in farmed landscapes: Implications for agri-environmental schemes

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2007

The small mammal community in 21 localities of north-western Spain was evaluated in the light of land use composition. The two geomorphologic categories characterising the study area, the main use of the land (arable/pastoral) and main crop types of each sampling locality were used as potential predictors of the relative abundance of five common small mammal species. The Common vole, Microtus arvalis showed a weak relationship with land uses, probably due to the recent colonisation process this species experienced in the study area. The relative abundance of the Algerian mouse, Mus spretus and the Lusitanian pine vole, Microtus lusitanicus was best explained by models built at the broadest regional scale, the former being more abundant in the eastern area, the latter in the western area. The Greater white-toothed shrew, Crocidura russula showed a positive relationship with grassland coverage, whilst the Wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus benefited from increasing proportions of fallow lands within the landscape. These two species are then expected to respond positively to those agri-environmental schemes including the increase of fallows and grassy vegetation within the arable landscape (EU recommendations). However, further efforts are needed to predict, at least qualitatively, the response of other small mammal species to the changing farmed landscape. This is especially true for two endemic species occurring at this area: the Cabrera vole, Microtus cabrerae and the Lusitanian pine vole, and for which this kind of information is almost absent.

Cambios en las comunidades de micromamíferos durante el Holoceno Tardío–Antropoceno en el sudeste de la provincia de Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Article

Full-text available

May 2023

MICROMAMMAL COMMUNITY CHANGES DURING LATE HOLOCENE–ANTROPOCENE IN SOUTHEASTERN BUENOS AIRES PROVINCE (ARGENTINA). The qualitative and quantitative taxonomic composition of the micromammal assemblages (including didelphimorphs, chiropterans, and rodents) derived from trophic activity of strigiform birds is analyzed. The studied samples have been collected in the coastal locality of Centinela del Mar (38° 26’ 18.56” S; 58° 13’ 17.42” W, General Alvarado, Buenos Aires, Argentina) and they are staggered, chronologically, to represent the last 500 years (i.e., Late Holocene–Antropocene). From those older is registered the local or regional extinction of six species of rodents (i.e., Bibimys torresi, Ctenomys sp., Eligmodontia typus, Necromys lasiurus, Phyllotis sp. and Pseudoryzomys simplex) and the biological extinction of one chiropteran (Desmodus draculae). In the most recent samples is verified a dramatic increase in the rodent Calomys sp. The current micromammal community was shaped by the anthropic impact, especially the agricultural activities of the last century, acting on an impoverished pool of species due to global climate events during the Late Holocene (e.g., Medieval Warm Epoch, Little Ice Age). The previous reference of these types of assemblages as no-analog is discussed, being characterized by the sympatric occurrence of taxa currently allopatric.

Small mammals from barn owl Tyto alba pellets in a Mediterranean agroforestry landscape of central Italy

Article

Oct 2021

In order to investigate diversity patterns and similarities in the small mammal communities of an agroforestry landscape in western central Italy (Maremma of Lazio), we analyzed, in a multivariate setting (Cluster analysis, DCA-Detrended Correspondence Analysis), the prey content of barn owl Tyto alba pellets collected along one year in five sampling sites. Small mammal communities were composed by guilds typical of habitats included in agroforestry landscapes (croplands and mosaics, forests and ecotones, wet habitats and synanthropic ones). Since landscape matrices were characterized almost everywhere by croplands, typical agro-ecosystem species (Apodemus cfr. sylvaticus, Microtus savii, Mus domesticus and Soricidae) dominated in the majority of the collecting sites. The statistical analyses show how small changes in land use and cover can explain the faunal differences between sites, with the occasional presence of Arvicola italicus in wet habitats, and of Muscardinus avellanarius and Sorex samniticus in sites dominated by forest or agroforestry ecotones. Communities recorded in sites characterized by wet and forest habitats showed a higher distance from the others, dominated by croplands. Communities occurring in landscapes with the lowest habitat diversity showed also the lowest species diversity.

Small mammals in the diet of Barn Owls (Tyto furcata) in an urban area in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, with a new record of the dwarf mouse opossum (Cryptonanus)

Article

Full-text available

May 2021
Braz J Biol

Several studies emphasize the use of owl pellets in small mammal inventories in natural areas harboring high richness of rare species, but few Brazilian Atlantic forest localities have been surveyed by this method. The present study documents the species composition and abundance of small mammals in the diet of Tyto furcata in an urban area of the municipality of Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, remarking on a new record of the dwarf mouse opossum genus Cryptonanus in the Atlantic forest. We analyzed 265 pellets regurgitated by a pair of T. furcata from November 2016 to September 2017 found in a nesting box. Analysis of the samples enabled finding a total of 596 individuals of four small mammal species. Mus musculus was predominant among the prey items (98.3%), while the native rodents Necromys lasiurus (1.3%) and Holochilus brasiliensis (0,17%) were much rarer. A single specimen of Cryptonanus sp. was identified among the diet items based on distinctive dental characters. The identification of this genus in the present study represents the second record in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and the sixth in the Atlantic Forest biome, suggesting that this marsupial occupies a wider ecological and biogeographic range. The present study underscores the relevance of owl pellets for small mammal surveys, even in urban and highly disturbed areas.

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) diet and prey selection as assessed by the analysis of pellets collected under resting sites (River Ticino, north Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2021
AQUAT ECOL

The diet of the kingfisher Alcedo atthis is usually studied by collecting pellet pools from the nest after breeding. This collecting method is very efficient but has some drawbacks which include invasiveness and restriction to the reproductive period. To overcome these limits, here we propose the collection of pellets under resting sites. Although requiring a large number of surveys to find suitable resting sites and obtain sufficient sample size, this method is minimally invasive and allows a precise estimate of the relative frequency of prey items per pellet and the assessment of kingfisher diet also outside the breeding period. The methodology was applied to an Italian kingfisher population (River Ticino, northern Italy) between March and October 2019. Resting sites were identified in 15 out of 54 sampling stations, from which 133 pellets were collected. By comparing diagnostic remains, 478 preyed individuals were identified including mainly fish (94.4%) ranging in total length between 21 and 105 mm. Fish availability of the River was assessed. The fish community included 49 species, of which 22 (45%) were non-native. Kingfishers preyed on the most widespread and abundant native species, while the contribution of exotic fish was lower than expected. However, the overall consistency of prey use and availability suggests that the analysis of kingfisher pellets represents an additional method for monitoring the composition of freshwater fish communities and man-induced changes across broad geographical scales.

Efectos de la pérdida de bosque sobre los roedores cricétidos en Carpish, Huánuco, Perú

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2020

Maggie Noblecilla

Huánuco presenta bosques montanos húmedos en el área de Carpish, altamente diversos en flora y fauna, entre los mamíferos destacan los roedores cricétidos por su alta diversidad; sin embargo, estos bosques están cada vez más fragmentados por la apertura de carreteras, agricultura y ganadería. A pesar de la acelerada reducción de los bosques, no se conoce el efecto de esta perturbación antrópica sobre los roedores cricétidos, fundamentales en su rol como depredadores, presas y dispersores de semillas en el medio que habitan por lo que esta investigación examina el efecto de la pérdida de bosque sobre la diversidad y riqueza de especies de roedores cricétidos. Las evaluaciones del área de estudio, San Pedro de Carpish, corresponden a los años 2002 y 2017. La pérdida de bosque se examinó con datos cuantitativos y cualitativos obtenidos de la plataforma “Geobosques” mediante un análisis espacial y temporal. Los resultados demuestran que la diversidad fue constante y la riqueza disminuyó en dos especies del total registrado; la diversidad beta, indicó una similar composición de especies y el reemplazo en dos especies en los años evaluados. Es importante señalar la resiliencia de las especies en estos bosques, aunque sus respuestas son diferentes frente a la perturbación antrópica, como Akodon kotosh, que exhibió alta abundancia a pesar de la pérdida de bosque y aumento de perturbación antrópica entre los años evaluados; pero a su vez, el cambio en la composición de las especies afecta directamente la estructura o composición del bosque, es por ello que se recomienda acciones de conservación y planes de manejo adecuado para la agricultura y ganadería presentes en el área.

Prey Selection by Birds of Prey

Article

Apr 2020

Anisha Pokharel

Prey selection is key to determine predator prey interaction and understanding the complexity of food web structure. In this thesis, we used two different approaches to understanding prey selection by North American birds of prey. Using a conventional method, in Chapter 1 we compared pellet analysis and trapping data to assess patterns of prey selection of barn owls in western Nebraska. Microtus spp. comprised 55.8% of the prey items in the barn owl’s diet. The proportion of several prey types in the diet were significantly different from the expected proportion based on trapping. This pattern may indicate barn owls actively select Microtus spp., possibly because they are a relatively more energetically rewarding prey. In Chapter 2, we quantified the prey selection of migrating Sharp-shinned hawksand Cooper’s hawks using DNA barcoding. Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and rock pigeons (Columba livia) were the most common prey of Cooper’s hawk, and American robins (Turdus migratorius)were the most common prey of sharp-shinned hawks. Our results indicate that these raptors tend to consume relatively common prey species, possibly reflecting an energy conserving migration strategy. Detailed understanding of raptor diet is essential to identify their potential vulnerabilities and to develop effective conservation strategies. Advisor : John P. DeLong

Diet composition of introduced barn owls (Tyto alba javanica) in urban area in comparison with agriculture settings

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2020

This study investigated the diet of introduced barn owls (Tyto alba javanica, Gmelin) in the urban area of the Main Campus of Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia, based on collected regurgitated pellets. We also compared the diet of the introduced barn owls with the diet of barn owls from two agricultural areas, i.e. oil palm plantations and rice fields. Pellet analysis of introduced barn owls showed that commensal Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, made up the highest proportion of the diet (65.37% prey biomass) while common shrews, Suncus murinus were the second highest consumed prey (30.12% prey biomass). Common plantain squirrel, Callosciurus notatus, made up 4.45% of the diet while insects were taken in a relatively small amount (0.046% prey biomass). Introduced barn owls showed a preference for medium-sized prey, i.e. 40–120 g (52.96% biomass and 38.71% total). In agricultural areas, rice field rats, Rattus argentiventer predominated the diet of barn owls (98.24% prey biomass) in rice fields while Malayan wood rats, Rattus tiomanicus, were the most consumed prey in oil palm plantations (99.5% prey biomass). Food niche breadth value was highest for barn owls introduced in an urban area with a value of 2.90, and 1.06 in rice fields and 1.22 in oil palm plantations. Our analysis reiterates the prey preference of barn owls in various landscapes for small mammals. Our results also indicate the suitability of utilizing barn owls as a biological control not only in agricultural areas, but also as a biological control agent for commensal rodent pests in urban areas.

Presas de Tyto alba (Aves, Strigiformes) en una selva nublada venezolana

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2000

Se presentan resultados sobre la identidad taxonómica y caracteristicas físicas de las presas de la lechuza de campanario, Tyto alba, en una área con vegetación de selva nublada en los Andes de Venezuela. Se detectaron 20 especies presa que se desglosan en roedores. musarañas. marsupiales, murciélagos, aves, saurios y escarabajos. Dominan los pequeños mamíferos no voladores, especialmente roedores (73.2% de las presas). La presa promedio tiene una masa de 16.1 g y una longítud de 143.3 mm, equivalentes al 3.9% de la masa y 37.7% de la longítud de T. alba. En comparación con otros estudios sobre la dieta de T. alba. destaca la importancia de los grandes escarabajos (19.6% de las presas). Palabras claves: Aves, coleópteros, depredación, dieta, lechuza de campanario, roedores. selva nublada, Strigiformes, Tyto alba, Venezuela.

Juvenile Tyto alba furcata (Barn Owl) and Remains of Ascalapha odorata (Black Witch Moth) Found in Natural Limestone Cavity in Hellshire Hills, Jamaica

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2017

While conducting avian surveys throughout the Caribbean island of Jamaica, the authors discovered a natural limestone cavity in the Hellshire Hills containing a juvenile Tyto alba furcata (Barn Owl) as well as over a hundred wing fragments of Ascalapha odorata (Black Witch Moth). To date, there are no known records of such abundant lepidopteran prey remains associated with Barn Owl in the scientific literature. Herein we discuss the significance of these novel findings in the greater context of Barn Owl life history, address the paucity of research on the Barn Owl in Jamaica, and the implications of studies that have drawn conclusions on the diet of the Barn Owl solely from the analysis of pellet remains. We also include a preliminary literature review of insectivory and pellet analyses among owls.

Shrews and moles are less often captured by European Barn Owls Tyto alba nowadays than 150 years ago

Article

Oct 2016

Alexandre Roulin

Capsule: The analysis of 815 papers about the diet of the European Barn Owl Tyto alba showed that the consumption of small mammals that are insectivorous (shrews and moles) declined between 1860 and 2014. This suggests that the impoverished invertebrate communities due to global changes affected a large range of animals up to top predators.

Unraveling the patterns of small mammal species richness in the southernmost aridlands of South America

Article

Nov 2016

Understanding the patterns of species richness is a critical aspect for the conservation of biodiversity. Patagonia is located southern of 40°S, mostly covered by an aridland and is the only area of the Southern Hemisphere (excluding Antarctica) that allows the study of a high-latitude terrestrial biota. In this work we describe the spatial variation of species richness of the non-flying small mammal assemblages, covering ∼12° of latitude in Patagonia. We analyzed 100,000 specimens and the relation between environmental variables and small mammal richness. Species richness decreased southwards and eastwards and turnover of species was not observed. We found high richness values in the north of Patagonia and high correlations between species richness and environmental variables in the south. We suggest that current species richness distribution in Patagonia is the result of historical (glacial history and main rivers acting as geographic barriers) and current climatic factors (e.g., temperature) along with species ecology. Our results highlight the importance of northern Patagonia as a reservoir of diversity across time and as most of the glacial refuges were potentially located on this area, we might expect it to be more severely impacted by current global warming.

Roadkills as a complementary information source for biological surveys using rodents as a model

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2015
J MAMMAL

Roads affect wildlife in many ways, with roadkills probably the most conspicuous. In Mexico, there is increasing interest in this effect on wildlife. Together, richness and abundance can be used to predict trends for wild populations, and our study analyzes these variables for rodents killed by vehicles and trapped along a 14-km stretch of an A-type roadway in Veracruz, Mexico, from June 2010 to March 2011. Our study area had 2 habitat types: shrubland on lava flow and grassland. Over the course of the study, we monitored this stretch of highway by car for 34 days of effective sampling. When we spotted an animal, we stopped to record it. In the surrounding habitats, traps were set for 28 nights with 36 traps per habitat (total effort: 1,008 trap nights). The richness of trapped rodents was 9 species and for roadkills it was 14. The 2 sampling methods shared 7 species. The differential contribution was 2 species in trapping and 7 in roadkills. The complementarity index was 99.36. For both methods, the dominant species were mice of the genus Peromyscus (Peromyscus difficilis for the shrubland and Peromyscus maniculatus for the grassland). Roadkills were a very representative source of information for the purposes of biological inventory and even for identifying the dominance pattern in species composition, thus offered a useful method for supplementing information obtained from traditional trapping. Highways threaten biodiversity mainly because they fragment habitats and further expose other habitats to impact by humans, but also because of their potential as a direct mortality factor. Careful interpretation of roadkill data can be a useful tool whose value for biologists has not yet been fully appreciated.

Dietary overlap between sympatric dingoes and feral cats at a semiarid rangeland site in Western Australia

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2015

Tim S. Doherty

The diet of sympatric dingoes and feral cats was studied in the semiarid southern rangelands of Western Australia. A total of 163 scats were collected over a period of 19 months. Rabbit remains were the most common food item in cat scats, followed by reptiles, small mammals and birds. Macropod remains were the most common food item in dingo scats, followed by rabbits and birds. Dingo scats did not contain small mammal remains, and infrequently contained arthropod and reptile remains. Cat and dingo scats contained remains from 11 and six mammal species, respectively. Of the small mammals, cat scats contained rodent remains more frequently than those of dasyurids. Dietary diversity of cats was higher than for dingoes and dietary overlap between the two species was relatively low.

Owl pellets: A more effective alternative to conventional trapping for broad-scale studies of small mammal communities

Article

Aug 2015
Methods Ecol. Evol.

Small mammal community composition is almost universally estimated from conventional trapping, which is logistically difficult to scale up for landscape‐level assessments. Owl pellets may be a more effective alternative for measuring small mammal community composition over large geographic areas due to the relative ease and low cost of field collections. However, owl pellets may introduce sampling biases that differ from those associated with conventional trapping. A thorough comparison to conventional traps is required before owl pellets can be widely adopted as an alternative research tool for small mammal studies. We conducted a literature review of owl diet‐prey availability studies to: (i) compare small mammal community composition between owl pellets and trapping when the two methods were used simultaneously and (ii) assess the influence of owl genus and habitat type on community composition estimated by these two methods. We used data from 27 published studies, which allowed for 32 comparisons between owl pellets and trapping conducted simultaneously. These studies included 15 owl species from five common genera from different major habitats. Rarefied estimates showed that owls consistently sampled identical or higher species richness compared to conventional trapping. Richness estimates rarefied to the lowest sample size per study were not statistically identical (μ Δrichness = 0·20 ± 0·09 SE , P = 0·30); on average, 0·95 ± 0·13 SE additional species were identified from pellets compared to trapping. Measures of species dominance and evenness estimated from both methods were statistically identical (μ Δ1‐D = 0·02 ± 0·03 SE ; μ Δ PIE = 0·004 ± 0·04 SE ). Species lists, relative species composition and species rank‐order abundance were in moderate agreement between sampling methods (Jaccard = 0·62 ± 0·04 SE ; Bray–Curtis = 0·53 ± 0·04 SE ; Spearman rho = 0·41 ± 0·07 SE ). Linear regression and AIC model selection showed that the performance of pellets versus traps did not differ based on owl genus or habitat type. Small mammal community composition estimated via pellets was better represented compared to estimates from conventional trapping. Composition metrics from the two methods were consistent and not affected by owl genera or habitat type. Thus, owls are an effective alternative for landscape‐level assessments of small mammal communities.

Utility of owl pellets for monitoring threatened mammal communities: An Australian case study

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2013

Context Predictive modelling of the impacts of climate change has highlighted a need for on-ground monitoring of mammal communities within the Wet Tropics bioregion of Queensland to inform wildlife conservation management. Standard mammal-survey techniques are labour intensive and often incapable of detecting rare, trap-shy or otherwise elusive species, effectively rendering them invisible to researchers even when substantial resources are applied. Aims To assess the utility of feeding remains (regurgitated pellets) from lesser sooty owls, Tyto tenebricosa multipunctata, for monitoring populations of small to medium-sized mammals within the Wet Tropics. Methods Three female lesser sooty owls were radio-tracked to determine home-range areas. Radio-tracking and targeted systematic searches were used to locate diurnal roosts containing owl pellets from which prey species were identified. Owl-pellet data were directly compared with live-trap data within three putative owl home ranges. Additionally, analyses of a dataset spanning more than 15 years demonstrated the utility of owl-pellet data for monitoring mammal communities. Key results Owl-pellet surveys yielded 14 mammal species (840 individuals) from 152 man-hours, compared with six mammal species (361 individuals) from 194 man-hours of live trapping. Both survey methods identified Rattus fuscipes, Melomys spp. and Antechinus spp. as the most abundant species but live-trap data were found to under-represent relative abundance of Melomys spp. and over-represent relative abundance of R. fuscipes in comparison to owl-pellet data. Conclusions Analysis of lesser sooty owl pellets is a particularly useful method for compilation of species inventories of small to medium-sized mammals, being more effective than standard live-trapping surveys within the rainforests of the Wet Tropics. Implications Owl-pellet analysis is well suited for monitoring mammal communities, as long as periodic data are collected from the same roost(s) and the pellets have been deposited by the same individual bird(s). Additional research relating to variability in behavioural traits between individual lesser sooty owls that have potential to confound results via sampling bias must be undertaken before owl-pellet data can be used for comparison of mammal community structure among sites, or for monitoring a site over a period spanning a change in the individual owls that are depositing pellets at that site. Journal compilation

Gloger's rule in North American Barn Owls

Article

Jan 2015

Studying the geographic variation of phenotypic traits can provide key information about the potential adaptive function of alternative phenotypes. Gloger's rule posits that animals should be dark- vs. light-colored in warm and humid vs. cold and dry habitats, respectively. The rule is based on the assumption that melanin pigments and/or dark coloration confer selective advantages in warm and humid regions. This rule may not apply, however, if genes for color are acting on other traits conferring fitness benefits in specific climes. Covariation between coloration and climate will therefore depend on the relative importance of coloration or melanin pigments and the genetically correlated physiological and behavioral processes that enable an animal to deal with climatic factors. The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) displays three melanin-based plumage traits, and we tested whether geographic variation in these traits at the scale of the North American continent supported Gloger's rule. An analysis of variation of pheomelanin-based reddish coloration and of the number and size of black feather spots in 1,369 museum skin specimens showed that geographic variation was correlated with ambient temperature and precipitation. Owls were darker red in color and displayed larger but fewer black feather spots in colder regions. Owls also exhibited more and larger black spots in regions where the climate was dry in winter. We propose that the associations between pigmentation and ambient temperature are of opposite sign for reddish coloration and spot size vs. the number of spots because selection exerted by climate (or a correlated variable) is plumage trait-specific or because plumage traits are genetically correlated with different adaptations.

Using scats of a generalist carnivore as a tool to monitor small mammal communities in Mediterranean habitats

Article

Jan 2013
BASIC APPL ECOL

Abstract Owl pellets have long been used to analyze communities of small mammals, while analogous analyses of faeces of mammal carnivores are not available. We demonstrate that common genet (Genetta genetta) scats can be used as a reliable method to sample small mammal communities and to monitor their variations. We have compiled data on 6350 small mammal remains of 18 species found in scats from 51 different latrines in a 1200 km 2 area of northeastern Spain. Genet scats sampled effectively 95.6% of the small mammal species ranging in size from 2.7 to 385 g. Spatial patterns of diet composition along environmental gradients of elevation, climate and land-use matched expected changes in small mammal communities along these gradients according to ecological requirements of prey species. Frequencies of occurrence of prey in genet scats were strongly correlated with frequencies of occurrence in barn owl (Tyto alba) pellets. Genet scats included two forest species not preyed upon by owls, whereas only one species was not preyed upon by genets. Forests species were more frequent in genet than in barn owl diets after correcting for environmental effects, whereas the opposite was true for open-habitat and synanthropic species. Scats of generalist carnivores can be used to estimate the spatial patterns of distribution and abundance of small mammal communities. Genet scats in fact overcome some of the limitations of more traditional sampling methods (live-trapping and owl diets), as genets were less selective and their diets reflect more accurately changes in community composition.

Food habits of the stone marten (Martes foina) (Mammalia: Carnivora) in plain areas of Northern Italy prior to pine marten (M. martes) spreading

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2013

In the two last decades, the pine marten Martes martes has expanded in the River Po plain, causing the displacement of the stone marten M. foina from residual wooded areas. As a high degree of food niche overlap can favour exploitative competition and information about stone marten diet in Northern Italy was scarce, we analysed a sample of 181 stone marten faeces collected, prior to pine marten expansion (1997–1998), in the hay-lofts of farms located in the central plain of the River Po. Results were expressed in terms of both frequency of occurrence and mean percent volume, while seasonal variation was assessed by Compositional Analysis. The availability of small mammals was assessed by the analysis of 116 barn- and tawny owl pellets. The bulk of stone marten diet was made up of four main items in equal parts: fruit, birds, lagomorphs and small rodents. Seasonal variation occurred for fruits, which were eaten more in the ripening season, and birds, which were less preyed upon in spring/summer. Insectivores were avoided, while rodents were preyed upon according to their availability, except for Apodemus sylvaticus, which was avoided. Anthropogenic food was scarcely used, although the farms were close to villages. The sharply higher frequency of occurrence of birds with respect to other Mediterranean areas may be related to the reduced availability of small rodents in intensively cultivated areas. The stone marten was confirmed to be an opportunistic predator, able to cope with human-induced variation in the availability of food resources. Nonetheless, in heavily man-altered habitats, the reduced availability of food resources may enhance the effects of competition for food with the expanding pine marten. Further studies are needed in areas of sympatry, as local differences in food availability may influence both predators’ response to competition.

Using scats of a generalist carnivore as a tool to monitor small mammal communities in Mediterranean habitats

Article

Mar 2013
BASIC APPL ECOL

Owl pellets have long been used to analyze communities of small mammals, while analogous analyses of faeces of mammal carnivores are not available. We demonstrate that common genet (Genetta genetta) scats can be used as a reliable method to sample small mammal communities and to monitor their variations. We have compiled data on 6350 small mammal remains of 18 species found in scats from 51 different latrines in a 1200 km(2) area of northeastern Spain. Genet scats sampled effectively 95.6% of the small mammal species ranging in size from 2.7 to 385 g. Spatial patterns of diet composition along environmental gradients of elevation, climate and land-use matched expected changes in small mammal communities along these gradients according to ecological requirements of prey species. Frequencies of occurrence of prey in genet scats were strongly correlated with frequencies of occurrence in barn owl (Tyto alba) pellets. Genet scats included two forest species not preyed upon by owls, whereas only one species was not preyed upon by genets. Forests species were more frequent in genet than in barn owl diets after correcting for environmental effects, whereas the opposite was true for open-habitat and synanthropic species. Scats of generalist carnivores can be used to estimate the spatial patterns of distribution and abundance of small mammal communities. Genet scats in fact overcome some of the limitations of more traditional sampling methods (live-trapping and owl diets), as genets were less selective and their diets reflect more accurately changes in community composition.

Food habits of genetically identified pine marten (Martes martes) expanding in agricultural lowlands (NW Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2011

We assessed the diet of pine marten (Martes martes) expanding in the heavily human-altered agricultural plain of the River Po, northern Italy. Between February 2008 and November 2009, surveys were carried out twice a week during seasonal sampling sessions of three to four consecutive weeks. To distinguish the faecal samples from those of sympatric carnivores, a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method was applied. The availability of small mammals was assessed by the analysis of 59 barn owl (Tyto alba) pellets. A total of 109 pine marten faeces were analysed. Its diet consisted of fruit, rodents, lagomorphs and birds. Seasonal variation occurred for fruit, which prevailed in summer, and rodents, which were more preyed upon in autumn. In winter, the diet of the pine marten was almost totally based on vertebrates, and lagomorphs were the main source of protein in summer. Use of small mammals differed significantly from their availability, voles, particularly bank vole Myodes glareolus, being preferred to mice (Apodemus sp.) and rats (Rattus sp.). Medium-size mammals formed about 18% of pine marten diet, a value generally reported for high-latitude habitats. In agricultural areas, the pine marten proved to be an opportunistic predator, able to face the reduced availability of small mammals by preying upon medium-size prey and fruit. © 2010 Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Bialowieza, Poland.

DIETA DA SUINDARA Tyto furcata (Temminck, 1827) EM ÁREA DE CONSERVAÇÃO NA CIDADE DE URUTAÍ, GO

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2019

São escassos os estudos que tiveram o propósito de analisar a dieta da suindara Tyto furcata na região do Cerrado, sobretudo do sudeste do estado de Goiás. Assim, foi acompanhada a dieta de dois casais de suindara, através da análise de egagrópilas amostradas em uma área de conservação localizada na cidade de Urutaí, durante o período de três meses. Foram encontrados 188 itens alimentares, que totalizaram 240g de biomassa. Foi observada uma correlação positiva entre a biomassa e o número de presas encontradas nas egagrópilas (r = 0,850; p > 0,001) e uma correlação inversamente proporcional entre o número de presas e a precipitação total mensal da região sudeste de Goiás (r = -0,995, p > 0,001). Houve predomínio de roedores na dieta destes animais (75,6% da dieta), em todos os meses avaliados, e insetos corresponderam a 13,8% da dieta, estando presentes as ordens Coleoptera e Ortoptera. Insetos da família Tettigonidae foram os mais frequentes na dieta dessas corujas (59,6% do total de insetos). Houve também a presença de escamados da família Gekkonidae, não sendo observado nas amostras analisadas, presença de estruturas corporais que indicassem a utilização de aves ou anfíbios como presas. Nosso trabalho contribui para o conhecimento da dieta alimentar de suindaras e abre perspectivas para que outros estudos avaliem o efeito das variações climáticas sobre os hábitos alimentares dessas corujas no Cerrado.

Diet composition of introduced Barn Owls (Tyto alba javanica) in urban area in comparison with agriculture settings

Preprint

Full-text available

Mar 2019

This study investigated the diet of introduced barn owls (Tyto alba javanica, Gmelin) in the urban area of the Main Campus of Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia, based on collected regurgitated pellets. We also compared the diet of introduced urban barn owls with the diet of barn owls from two agricultural areas, i.e. oil palm plantations and rice fields. Pellet analysis of barn owls introduced in the urban area showed that commensal Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, made up the highest proportion of the diet (65.37% prey biomass) while common shrews, Suncus murinus were the second highest consumed prey (30.12% prey biomass). Common plantain squirrel, Callosciurus notatus, made up 4.45% of the diet while insects were taken in a relatively small amount (0.046% prey biomass). Introduced barn owls showed a preference for medium-sized prey, i.e. 40 to 120g (52.96% biomass and 38.71% total). In agricultural areas, Rattus argentiventer predominated the diet of barn owls (98.24% prey biomass) in rice fields while Malayan wood rats, Rattus tiomanicus, were the most consumed prey in oil palm plantations (99.5% prey biomass). Food niche breadth value was highest for barn owls introduced in an urban area with a value of 2.90, and 1.06 in rice fields and 1.22 in oil palm plantations. Our analysis reiterates the prey preference of barn owls in various landscapes for small mammals. Our results also indicate the suitability of utilizing barn owls as a biological control not only in agricultural areas, but also as a biological control agent for commensal rodent pests in urban areas.

Ct Diagnosis of Fahr’s Disease, A Case Report

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2018

Antonio Gligorievski

Variation in the Diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) Along an Urban-Rural Gradient

Article

Sep 2012

We studied geographic variation in the diet of Western Barn Owls (Tyto alba) along a urban-rural gradient in central-eastern Argentina and identified 5,231 prey items. Mammals were present in all samples, whereas birds and amphibians were present in 79.1 and 50.0% of the samples, respectively. There were significant differences in vertebrate assemblages consumed by Barn Owls at the opposite extremes of the gradient. Native sigmodontine rodents comprised 85.8% of the total prey items, especially towards periurban and rural areas. Exotic murid rodents were the main prey item in urban sites, while birds increased in frequency in urban and periurban areas. Food niche breadth and standardized food niche breadth values were higher at intermediate levels of urbanization (= periurban). This 'periurban peak' in species diversity is a relatively well-known pattern, previously reported for taxa such as birds, lizards, bumblebees, and butterflies among others. The trophic habits of Barn Owls along this gradient were mostly similar to those reported in other studies in southern South America, where the main prey items were native rodents and food niche breadth values (measured at the level of Orders) were low. Western Barn Owls in our study maintained specialization as a micromammal predator.

The Mulgara, Dasycercus cristicauda (Krefft, 1867): a new dasyurid record for New South Wales

Article

Full-text available

Dec 1992

Murray V. Ellis

Long-Term Variation in Abundance of Elliot's Short-Tailed Shrew (Blarina hylophaga) in Tallgrass Prairie

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2002

Elliot's short-tailed shrews (Blarina hylophaga) were studied in tallgrass prairie at Konza Prairie Biological Station, Kansas. Based on sampling of 14 permanent traplines from autumn 1981 to spring 1999, relative abundance was high in autumn (X̄ = 2.5 ± 0.4 SE shrews/trapline) but very low in spring (<0.1 shrews/trapline). Interannual variability in abundance in autumn was large with a range 0.1–7.0 shrews/trapline. Relative abundance of shrews in autumn was correlated positively with precipitation, soil moisture, and depth of plant litter and correlated negatively with proportion of area burned and maximum temperature. Two variables, precipitation, and amount of litter, accounted for 87% of variation in abundance of shrews in autumn. Ambient moisture and a well-developed litter layer that ameliorates microclimatic extremes appear to be the most important factors influencing abundance of shrews in tallgrass prairie.

Vulnerabilidade de pequenos mamíferos de áreas abertas a vertebrados predadores na estação ecológica de Itirapina, SP

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2005

Adriana de Arruda Bueno

Estudos sobre seleção de presas podem apresentar resultados bastante diferentes dependendo do predador analisado. Predadores com diferentes técnicas de caça, como as aves de rapina e os mamíferos carnívoros, podem selecionar diferentes tipos de presas. Certos parâmetros morfológicos e comportamentais das presas poderiam explicar as escolhas dos predadores. A pressão de predação poderia estar selecionando adaptações morfológicas/funcionais, no caso dos roedores, como bula timpânica inflada, locomoção do tipo bípede, uso de micro-hábitats que oferecem abrigos e padrão de atividade em noites com pouca ou nenhuma luminosidade lunar. Estudos sistemáticos sobre esse tema e sobre as relações das presas com seus predadores ainda são escassos no Brasil. Por esse motivo, os objetivos deste trabalho foram a análise da seletividade na dieta de três predadores quanto ao consumo de pequenos mamíferos na Estação Ecológica de Itirapina, SP, e também o estudo da vulnerabilidade dos pequenos mamíferos quanto à acuidade auditiva, tipo de locomoção e atividade e utilização de diferentes hábitats em noites com alta luminosidade.

Three Methods for Assessing Richness and Composition of Small Mammal Communities

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2004

Analysis of pellets of Tyto alba and scats of Genetta genetta and Sherman livetrapping were compared to assess richness and composition of small mammal communities in a Mediterranean area (NE Spain). Owl pellets provided 17 small mammal species (17,232 individuals), genet scats 14 species (2,145 individuals), and livetrapping 9 species (1,488 individuals). Owl pellets oversampled insectivores and grassland rodents and undersampled tree-dwelling and woodland rodents. Genet scats and livetrapping oversampled woodland rodents and undersampled insectivores and grassland rodents. After controlling for sample size and elevation differences between methods by means of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and rarefaction, owl pellets contained higher richness for small samples (<50 individuals), and scats contained higher richness for large samples (>100 individuals), both having higher richness than livetrapping regardless of sample size. We concluded that both indirect methods provided complementary information of small mammal communities, detecting the 19 small mammal species known to be present in the study area.

Endemic and introduced vertebrates in the diet of the barn owl (Tyto alba) on two islands in the Gulf of California, Mexico

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2009

Por medio de análisis de 458 regurgitaciones de lechuza (Tyto alba) colectadas entre 1981 y 1995 en 2 islas del norte del Golfo de California, México, encontramos diferencias significativas en los componentes principales de su dieta en estas islas, donde se encuentran roedores introducidos, murciélagos y aves marinas. En Isla Rasa, la presa más importante fue Rattus rattus, seguida por Myotis vivesi, Oceanodroma microsoma, Mus musculus y 4 especies de aves. En Isla Partida, la presa principal fue M. vivesi, seguida por O. microsoma, R. rattus y 3 especies de aves. El número promedio de presas por regurgitación en Isla Partida (1.08) fue mayor que en Isla Rasa (0.91), pero la biomasa promedio por regurgitación fue mayor en Isla Rasa (75.8 g) que en Isla Partida (28.5 g). La lechuza depredó a Oceanodroma microsoma y O. melania de acuerdo a su abundancia relativa en ambas islas. Por el contrario, la lechuza en Isla Rasa mostró una preferencia por R. rattus sobre M. musculus, posiblemente debido al mayor tamaño de la primera. En general, nuestros datos sugieren que la lechuza en el Golfo de California se comporta como un depredador flexible que consume a sus presas de acuerdo a su disponibilidad y beneficio.

Application of Molecular Methods to Identify Food Resources of Short-Eared Owl (Asio flammeus) in Wetland Community

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2009

The short-eared owl (Asia flammeus), which lives in open wetland habitats, has been threatened and become endangered in South Korea due to the destruction and loss of its habitats. However, the diet of the short-eared owl remains to be studied. The prey of the short-eared owl was monitored using molecular methods as an alternative tool. A total of 121 pellets of the species were collected in the Dalsung wetland. Of these pellets, about 30% (n = 33) were selected for prey identification in 2002 (n = 12), 2003 (n = 6) and 2006 (n = 15). Two hundred and thirty-two bone fragments were successfully analyzed and 9 prey species were detected. In an expanded analysis, excluding 4 pellets used for the preliminary analysis, small mammals constituted the highest percentage (89.1%): 47.6% Eurasian field mouse (Apodemus agrarius); 27.2% European harvest mouse (Micromys minutus); 6.1% Japanese wild house mouse (Mus musculus); 5.4% Asian lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura shantungensis); and 2.7% Norway rat (Battus norvegicus). Not only small mammals, but birds and amphibians were also identified: 4.1% Japanese quail (Cotumix japonica); 3.4% vinous-throated parrotbill (Paradoxornis webbianus); 0.7% eastern turtle dove (Streptopelia orientalis); and 2.7% Kori salamander (Hynobius yangi). This result would be valuable in understanding the feeding ecology of the short-eared owl in its wetland habitats. Key words Apodemus agrarius -owl pellet-PCR-prey-sequencing

Diet of Barn Owls (Tyto alba) in Northern Belize

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2009

Diet of the barn owl (Tyto alba) has been well studied in temperate regions of the world, but there is a notable paucity of dietary data from the Neotropics. In this study, we examined diet of barn owls at Gold Button Lagoon in northern Belize. Pellets and prey remains were collected at roosting sites during 1997–1998. Diet was composed primarily of small mammals. Sigmodon hispidus was the most common prey in terms of frequency of occurrence and biomass, with lesser numbers of other rodents being consumed. Similar to other reports for the Neotropics, barn owls in our study consumed relatively larger prey than conspecifics inhabiting temperate regions. Birds and amphibians were a minor component of diet.

Variación estacional y territorial en la depredación por la Lechuza de Campanario, Tyto alba / Romel Alexis Araujo Quintero

Article

Jul 1997

Tesis (Lic. en Biología)-- Universidad de Los Andes, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología, Ecología Animal, Mérida, 1997 Incluye bibliografía. La lechuza de campanario, Tyto alba, es un ave rapaz cosmopolita cuya dieta ha sido objeto de numerosos estudios, principalmente en las zonas templadas de ambos hemisferios. Sin embargo, la información sobre la estacionalidad y variación territorial de su dieta es muy escasa, particularmente para ambientes tropicales. Aquí, estudiamos estos aspectos mediante el análisis de egagrópilas de T. alba procedentes de una localidad con vegetación de selva nublada, a 2200 m.s.n.m., en el Estado Mérida, Venezuela. Consideramos los doce meses de 1995, así como dos territorios contiguos que difieren en grado de intervención antrópica. Los resultados obtenidos son: (1) en la localidad de estudio, T. alba muestra una dieta, típica para la especie en términos de composición taxonómica y características físicas de las presas, en la cual dominan los pequeños mamíferos no voladores, especialmente roedores (73.2%). En comparación con otros estudios, destaca la importancia de escarabajos grandes (19.6%); (2) el factor estacional fue más fuerte que el territorial, tal como cabía esperar considerando la contigüidad de los dos territorios estudiados; (3) apreciamos picos complementarios en la abundancia de escarabajos y roedores en la dieta, lo cual concuerda con estudios extratropicales que refieren a T. alba como una especie oportunista que incorpora en su dieta mayores proporciones de presas alternativas, tales como insectos y aves, cuando éstas se hacen relativamente abundantes. (4) el roedor presa Mus musculus no parece mostrar fluctuaciones estacionales marcadas en la composición etaria de su población, lo cual podría relacionarse con su condición de especie introducida; (5) otras presas, entre las que se incluyen la musaraña (Cryptotis meridensis) y dos roedores nativos (Akodon urichi, Microryzomys minutus) sí parecen mostrar fluctuaciones estacionales marcadas, acordes con lo esperado según el patrón reproductivo típico de pequeños mamíferos de selvas tropicales; (6) los datos sugieren que, en cada especie de pequeño mamífero no volador depredado por la lechuza, dicho patrón reproductivo típico se expresa sólo en su hábitat predilecto, siendo otras porciones del ambiente áreas de tránsito o dispersión. Por ende los estudios poblacionales de pequeños mamíferos de selvas tropicales deberían hacer más énfasis en el factor hábitat; (7) observamos relación entre grado de perturbación de la vegetación y diversidad de las presas. A mayor perturbación menor diversidad. Esta disminución en diversidad se explica por la menor frecuencia de aparición, en ambientes intervenidos, de presas características de etapas sucesionales más avanzadas.

The Barn Owl as a Red-Winged-Blackbird Predator in Northwestern Ohio

Article

Full-text available

Sep 1967

Author Institution: Department of Biology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio

Seasonal food habits of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) on the Alaksen National Wildlife Area, British Columbia.

Article

Full-text available

Jan 1978
Can Field Nat

Response of small mammals to herbicide-induced habitat changes

Article

Jan 1979

Halves of three clearcuttings in western Oregon were treated in the springs of 1970 and 1971 with a combination of herbicides, principally atrazine and 2,4-D, to control herbaceous vegetation. Vegetation and small mammal communities were sampled before and after herbicide applications, on both treated and untreated areas. Herbicide treatments reduced the number of plant species, chiefly grasses and forbs, and ground cover. However, survival and growth of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and growth of most shrubs were greater in treated areas. Microtus oregoni, Peromyscus maniculatus, Sorex vagrans, Sorex trowbridgii, and Zapus trinotatus - comprising 95 percent of the total small mammal community - were abundant enough for meaningful evaluation. Mark-recapture data showed that the kinds and numbers of small mammals were similar between the sides of each designated area before treatment. However, effective control of herbaceous vegetation altered the species composition of small mammal communities, as they responded according to their habitat preferences. Species preferring grassy habitats were less abundant on treated than untreated plots.

Barn Owl Prey Selection: 1938 and 1984

Article

Sep 1986

Rollin H. Baker

Nesting and Food of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in Hampshire County, Massachusetts

Article

Apr 1954

Food of the Barn Owl, Tyto alba pratincola, in Hancock County, Ohio

Article

Apr 1951

Richard S. Phillips

An Analysis of Common Barn-Owl Pellets from Louisiana

Article

Mar 1989

Food Habits and Bioenergetics of a Pair of Barn Owls and Owlets

Article

Jul 1981

The food habits and bioenergetics of a pair of barn owls (Tyto abla) were examined for 19 months. Biomass consumption rates of adults and young were quantified during nesting and nonnesting seasons. Five hundred and ninety-four pellets were examined to determine prey species and numbers. Using log-log regressions, biomass consumption of prey individuals was estimated as a function of right mandible length and body wet weight of prey individuals. Owls preyed upon eight mammalian species and two bird species. Hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) was the most common prey species, and it contributed the greatest portion of consumed biomass. An adult owl was estimated to consume a mean of 54.8 g/day of prey biomass during this study, 84.3 g/day during the nesting seasons, 51.8 g/day during the prenesting season and 17.0 g/day during the postnesting season. Biomass consumption of adults increased (P < 0.02) from the prehatching period to 30 days posthatching; then consumption declined (P < 0.01) as the young fledged. The owlets consumed 69.9% and 64.8% of the total estimated consumed biomass of the spring 1976 and spring 1977 nesting seasons, respectively Owlet consumption reached a peak value of 52.8 g/day approximately 28 days posthatching.

Effects of Range Treatment with 2,4-D on Rodent Populations

Article

Jan 1969

The treatment of perennial forb and shrub-grass ranges with 2,4-D in western Colorado usually produced an increase in grass cover and a decrease in the cover of most forbs and shrubs. Recovery time of herbicide-sensitive species varied. Dandelion reestablished dominance within 6 years following treatment of a perennial forb range; big sagebrush showed little sign of recovery 5 years after treatment. The density and litter size of the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) was little affected by the 2,4-D treatment. The density of northern pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides) and least chipmunks (Eutamias minimus) was reduced. Montane voles (Microtus montanus) increased in abundance following treatment of a perennial forb range. With the reestablishment of forb dominance, pocket gopher and vole populations returned to pre-treatment levels. Density changes of pocket gophers on treated ranges were due primarily to changes in the availability of food, those of chipmunks to both food and cover, and those of voles to cover changes.

Responses of Small Mammals and Habitat to Glyphosate Application on Clearcuts

Article

Jan 1989

We investigated effects of herbicide-induced habitat changes on small mammals in clearcuts in northcentral Maine. Fewer small mammals were captured on glyphosate (nitrogen-phosphonomethyl glycine) (Roundup, Monsanto, St. Louis, Mo.)-treated clearcuts 1-3 years post-treatment compared to untreated clearcuts. Insectivores (Soricidae) comprised 72% of small mammal captures and were less abundant (P < 0.001) for all 3 years post-treatment. Herbivores (Microtinae) were less abundant 1 (P < 0.01) and 2 years (P < 0.001) post-treatment. Omnivores (Cricetinae and Zapodidae) were equally abundant on treated and untreated clearcuts. Differences in small mammal abundance paralleled herbicide-induced reductions in invertebrates and plant food and cover. Patches of untreated vegetation within herbicide-treated clearcuts provided a source of invertebrates and plant food and cover.

Birds and Mammals in Barn Owl Pellets from near Laguna, Chihuahua, Mexico

Article

Aug 1960

Barn Owl Pellet Analysis in Northwestern Harris County, Texas

Article

May 1981

Seasonal food habits of barn owls in Utah

Article

Jan 1972

Winter Food Habits of Two Sympatric Owl Species

Article

Jul 1984

Daniel M. Taylor

Common Barn Owl Diet in Northeastern Oregon

Article

Jul 1985

Annual Fluctuations in Small Mammal Population in an Eastern Hardwood Forest

Article

Feb 1974

Predator-prey relationships and reproduction of the Barn Owl in southern Texas

Article

Jan 1972
Wilson Bull

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to Dr. Eric Bolen, my academic and project advisor, and my committee, including Drs. Bill Dahl, Don Klebenow, and Robert Packard. The Rob and,Bessie,Welder,Wildlife,Foundation,provided the,major,portion,of the,financial,support,and,equipment for,this,study.,Additional,aid,was,supplied,by the,Depart ment of Range and Wildlife Management, Texas Tech University.,Texas,A & M permitted,use,of their,radio- tracking,computer,program. Dr. Clarence Cottam, Director of the Welder Foundation, was,most,helpful,in all,aspects,of this,study. ,His field work,on barn,owl,on the,Welder,Refuge,provided,barn,owl nest,data,from,1965 to 1969. Dr. Cottam,also,assisted,in identification,of avian,remains,in the,owl pellets.,Mr. W. Caleb Glazener, Assistant Director of the Welder Refuge procured,necessary,materials.,Dr. Marshall,VThite allowed use,of unpublished,data,concerning,food,habits,of barn,owls on the,Welder,Refuge,from,1965 through,1968.

Food-Niche Relationships between Great Horned Owls and Common Barn-Owls in Eastern Washington

Article

Jan 1984

PREY SELECTION OF COMMON BARN-OWLS ON ISLANDS AND MAINLAND SITES

Article

Data from the literature and a recent collection of Common Barn-Owl (Tyto alba) pellets from Block Island, Rhode Island, were used to assess the relative numbers of birds and non-avian vertebrates taken by this owl on islands and mainland sites. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that barn-owl diets include proportionately more birds (both species and individuals) on islands than at mainland sites. The percent of bird species and individual birds in the diet decreases from the equator to 54øN. Possible causes for island vs. mainland diets and latitudinal trends are discussed. The interaction between the Common Barn-Owl (Tyro alba) and its prey is well documented. Pub- lished studies deal with economic aspects (Bendire 1895; Errington 1932; Wallace 1950), population ecology (Davis 1959; Otteni et al. 1972; Herrera and Jaksi 1980), and range extensions of mam- malian prey (Kirkpatrick and Conway 1947; Stickel and Stickel 1948; Baker 1953; Parmalee 1954). This owl is believed to specialize on mammalian prey, but Johnston (1974: 172) reported a high percentage of bird species in barn-owl pellets from Grand Cay- man Island, BWI. From that study and two other island reports available then, he proposed that "on some islands ... where small mammalian prey is reduced in diversity and total numbers, the barn- owl becomes alternatively a significant predator of birds and other non-mammalian vertebrates." We now test that hypothesis by using data from addi- tional published accounts of barn-owl diets on is- lands and mainland sites. While examining the data from those locations, we developed an additional hypothesis that barn-owl prey on more northerly islands includes fewer birds than on islands closer to the equator. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Food of the barn owl at Soda Lake Small mammals in pellets of barn owls from Minaca

Jan 1942
128-1

J R Alcorn
S Anderson

ALCORN, J. R. 1942. Food of the barn owl at Soda Lake, Nevada. Condor, 44: 128-1 29. ANDERSON, S., and LONG, C. A. 1961. Small mammals in pellets of barn owls from Minaca, Chihuahua. Am. Mus. Novit. No. 2052. pp. 1-3.

Barn owl prey selection: 1938 and 1984. South-west. Nat. 31: 401 Hawks and owls in Oklahoma 1939-1 942: food habits and population changes

Jan 1944
209-215

R H Baker
A M Baumgartner
F M Baumgartner

BAKER, R. H. 1986. Barn owl prey selection: 1938 and 1984. South-west. Nat. 31: 401. BAUMGARTNER, A. M., and BAUMGARTNER, F. M. 1944. Hawks and owls in Oklahoma 1939-1 942: food habits and population changes. Wilson Bull. 56: 209-215.

Feeding habits of an insular barn owl, Tyto alba

Jan 1973
Va J Sci
2-12

BLEM, C. R., and PAGELS, J. F. 1973. Feeding habits of an insular barn owl, Tyto alba. Va. J. Sci. 24: 2 12-214.

Barn owl pellets Response of small mammals to herbicide-induced habitat changes

Jan 1939
97-106

G Bolander
J E Borrecco
H C Black
E F Hooven

BOLANDER, G. 1939. Barn owl pellets. Gull, 21: 76. BORRECCO, J. E., BLACK, H. C., and HoovEN, E. F. 1979. Response of small mammals to herbicide-induced habitat changes. Northwest. Sci. 53: 97-106.

Common barn-owl food habits in Oktibbeha County

Jan 1984
2-5

M L Burchfield

BURCHFIELD, M. L. 1984. Common barn-owl food habits in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. Miss. Kite, 14: 2-5.

Summer prey of a barn owl in south-central Indiana with additional records of occurrence Notes on geographic distribution and habitats of mammals eaten by owls in southern New England Food habits and prey specificity of the common barn owl in Ohio

Jan 1972
158-16

J S Castrale
L E Lehman
G C Iverson
J R Choate

CASTRALE, J. S., LEHMAN, L. E., and IVERSON, G. C. 1983. Summer prey of a barn owl in south-central Indiana with additional records of occurrence. Indiana Audubon Q. 61: 158-16 1. CHOATE, J. R. 1972. Notes on geographic distribution and habitats of mammals eaten by owls in southern New England. Trans. Kans. Acad. Sci. 74: 2 12-2 16. COLVIN, B. A., and MCLEAN, E. B. 1986. Food habits and prey specificity of the common barn owl in Ohio. Ohio J. Sci. 86: 7680. COWAN, I. McT. 1942. Food habits of the barn owl in British Colum-bia. Murrelet, 23: 48-53.

Analysis of barn owl pellets from Worth County, Georgia. Oriole, 44: 52 Food habits of horned and barn owls A heavy concentration of Cryptotis

Jan 1938
499-500

R L Cunningham

CRAWFORD, R. L. 1979. Analysis of barn owl pellets from Worth County, Georgia. Oriole, 44: 52. CUNNINGHAM, J. D. 1960. Food habits of horned and barn owls. Condor, 62: 222. DAVIS, W. B. 1938. A heavy concentration of Cryptotis. J. Mammal. 19: 499-500.

Food habits of the barn owl

Jan 1945
CONDOR
161-166

HAWBECKER, A. C. 1945. Food habits of the barn owl. Condor, 47: 161-166.

Food remains from a barn owl nest in Nebraska

Jan 1976
54-57

EPPERSON, C. 1976. Food remains from a barn owl nest in Nebraska. Nebraska Bird Rev. 44: 54-57.

Food habits of southern Wisconsin raptors. Part I. Owls. Condor, 34: 1 7 6 186 Ecological notes on the prey selected by a barn owl

Jan 1932
3-9

P L Errington
F C Evans
J T Emlen
Jr

ERRINGTON, P. L. 1932. Food habits of southern Wisconsin raptors. Part I. Owls. Condor, 34: 1 7 6 186. EVANS, F. C., and EMLEN, J. T., JR. 1947. Ecological notes on the prey selected by a barn owl. Condor, 49: 3-9.

Summer feeding habits of barn owls (Tyto alba) from White County

Jan 1985
133-137

FELDHAMER, G. A. 1985. Summer feeding habits of barn owls (Tyto alba) from White County, Illinois. Trans. Ill. State Acad. Sci. 78: 133-137.

A note on the dietary habits of the barn owl Barn owls as mammal collectors in Georgia A 14-year study of Blarina brevicauda populations in east-central Illinois Barn owl pellet analysis in northwestern Harris County

Jan 1927
137-15

H S Fitch
G L Foster
T W French
C H Wharton
L L Getz

FITCH, H. S. 1947. Predation by owls in the Sierran foothills of California. Condor, 49: 137-15 1. FOSTER, G. L. 1927. A note on the dietary habits of the barn owl. Condor, 29: 246. FRENCH, T. W., and WHARTON, C. H. 1975. Barn owls as mammal collectors in Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. Oriole, 40: 6 1 0. GETZ, L. L. 1989. A 14-year study of Blarina brevicauda populations in east-central Illinois. J. Mammal. 70: 5846. GOYER, N., BARR, A. L., and JOURNET, A. R. P. 1981. Barn owl pellet analysis in northwestern Harris County, Texas. Southwest. Nat. 26: 202-204.

The barn owl in its relation to the rodent population at Berkeley, California

Jan 1927
CONDOR
274-275

HALL, E. R. 1927. The barn owl in its relation to the rodent population at Berkeley, California. Condor, 29: 274-275.

Trophic diversity of the barn owl Tyto alba in continental western Winter barn owl foods in a Louisiana coastal marsh

Jan 1962
18-1

C M Herrera
J Horner
R Wallace
D W Johnston
E S Jemison

HERRERA, C. M. 1974. Trophic diversity of the barn owl Tyto alba in continental western Europe. Ornis Scand. 5: 18 1-1 9 1. HORNER, J., WALLACE, R., and JOHNSTON, D. W. 1974. Food of the barn owl at Gainesville, Florida. Fla. Field Nat. 2: 28-3 1. JEMISON, E. S., and CHABRECK, R. H. 1962. Winter barn owl foods in a Louisiana coastal marsh. Wilson Bull. 74: 95-96.

Notes on the small mammal content of pellets of the barn owl (Tyto alba pratincola) in Nebraska

Jan 1949
4-5

JONES, J. K. 1949. Notes on the small mammal content of pellets of the barn owl (Tyto alba pratincola) in Nebraska. Nebr. Bird Rev. 17: 4-5.

The winter foods of some Indiana owls

Jan 1947
AM MIDL NAT
755-766

KIRKPATRICK, C. M., and CONWAY, C. H. 1947. The winter foods of some Indiana owls. Am. Midl. Nat. 38: 755-766.

Ten years of barn owl prey data from a Colorado nest site Barn owl diet includes mammal species new to the island fauna of the Great Salt Lake

Jan 1973
85-86

MARTI, C. D. 1973. Ten years of barn owl prey data from a Colorado nest site. Wilson Bull. 85: 85-86. 1986. Barn owl diet includes mammal species new to the island fauna of the Great Salt Lake. Great Basin Nat. 46: 307-309.

A note on the food habits of barn owls in Klamath County A study of owl pellet contents from Linn

Jan 1966
9-14

C Maser
C Maser
E D Jr

MASER, C. 1972. A note on the food habits of barn owls in Klamath County, Oregon. Murrelet, 53: 28. MASER, C., and BRODIE, E. D., JR. 1966. A study of owl pellet contents from Linn, Benton and Polk Counties, Oregon. Murrelet, 47: 9-14.

Selected climatic data for a global set of standard stations for vegetation science. Dr. W. Junk bv Publishers, The Hague Applied linear statistical models Beneficial feeding habits of the barn owl

Jan 1940
8-9

M J Muller
J Neter
W Wasserman
R A O 'reilly
Jr

MULLER, M. J. 1982. Selected climatic data for a global set of standard stations for vegetation science. Dr. W. Junk bv Publishers, The Hague. NETER, J., and WASSERMAN, W. 1974. Applied linear statistical models. Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Homewood, IL. O'REILLY, R. A., JR. 1940. Beneficial feeding habits of the barn owl. Cleve. Bird Club Bird Cal., 36: 8-9.

Food of the great horned owl and barn owl in east Texas Owl predation in Pennsyl-vania, with notes on the small mammals of Delaware county

Jan 1947
137-147

P W Parmalee
A K Pearson

PARMALEE, P. W. 1954. Food of the great horned owl and barn owl in east Texas. Auk, 71: 469470. PEARSON, 0. P., and PEARSON, A. K. 1947. Owl predation in Pennsyl-vania, with notes on the small mammals of Delaware county. J. Mammal. 28: 137-147.

Contents of owl pellets

Jan 1942
AM MIDL NAT
524-525

PRICE, H. F. 1942. Contents of owl pellets. Am. Midl. Nat. 28: 524-525.

An unusual nest site and diet of northern barn

Jan 1983
82-84

R E Sandercox
A Buckelew
A R Jr

RICKLEFS, R. E. 1990. Ecology. 3rd ed. W. H. Freeman & Company, New York. SANDERCOX, A., and BUCKELEW, A. R., JR. 1983. An unusual nest site and diet of northern barn-owls in Bethany, West Virginia. Redstart, 50: 82-84.

Notes on the barn owls of the San Francisco Bay region

Jan 1937
CONDOR
189-191

SMITH, C. F., and HOPKINS, C. L. 1937. Notes on the barn owls of the San Francisco Bay region. Condor, 39: 189-191.

The occurrence, food habits, and nesting strategy of white-tailed kites in relation to a fluctuating vole population Mammals of northwestern Texas found in barn owl pellets

Jan 1948
191-193

R C Stendell
Berkeley
W H Stickel
L F Stickel

STENDELL, R. C. 1972. The occurrence, food habits, and nesting strategy of white-tailed kites in relation to a fluctuating vole population. Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Berkeley. STICKEL, W. H., and STICKEL, L. F. 1948. Mammals of northwestern Texas found in barn owl pellets. J. Mammal. 29: 191-193.

A study of barn owls and their food

Jan 1963
1-3

R C Tedards

TEDARDS, R. C. 1963. A study of barn owls and their food. Chat, 27: 1-3.

Food habits of the barn owl Tyto alba in Clinton County Findings in pellets of barn owl Pennsylvania barn owl survey

Jan 1926
6-7

G L Tieben
J S Halter
C W Townsend
F J Trembley
G R L Gaughran

TIEBEN, G. L., and HALTER, J. S. 1977. Food habits of the barn owl Tyto alba in Clinton County, Ohio. Proc. Indiana Acad. Sci. 87: 432. TOWNSEND, C. W. 1926. Findings in pellets of barn owl. Auk, 43: 544. TREMBLEY, F. J., and GAUGHRAN, G. R. L. 1941. Pennsylvania barn owl survey. Pa. Game News, 12: 6 7. Can. J. Zool. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by UNIV CHICAGO on 11/19/14 For personal use only.

Climates of the states The barn owl in Michigan; its distribution, natural history, and food habits

Jan 1948
1-61

U S National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration Ny
G J Wallace

U.S. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION 1974. Climates of the states. Vols. 1 and 2. Water Information Center, Port Washington, NY. WALLACE, G. J. 1948. The barn owl in Michigan; its distribution, natural history, and food habits. Mich. Agric. Exp. Stn. Tech. Bull. NO. 208: pp. 1-61.

Habitat fragmentation in the temperate zone In Conservation biology, the science of scarcity and diversity

Jan 1986
237-256

D S Mclellan

WILCOVE, D. S., MCLELLAN, C. H., and DOBSON, A. P. 1986. Habitat fragmentation in the temperate zone. In Conservation biology, the science of scarcity and diversity. Edited by M. E. Soule. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA, pp. 237-256.

Owl studies at Ann Arbor, Michigan The contents of owl pellets as indicators of habitat preferences of small mammals

Jan 1936
187-1

K A Wilson
L D Wooster

WILSON, K. A. 1938. Owl studies at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Auk, 55: 187-1 97. WOOSTER, L. D. 1936. The contents of owl pellets as indicators of habitat preferences of small mammals. Trans. Kans. Acad. Sci. 39: 395-397.

The barn owl in Michigan; its distribution, natural history, and food habits

Jan 1948
1-61

WALLACE, G. J. 1948. The barn owl in Michigan; its distribution, natural history, and food habits. Mich. Agric. Exp. Stn. Tech. Bull. NO. 208: pp. 1-61.

Barn owl pellets and small mammal populations near Mathis, Texas, in 1956 and 1959

Jan 1960
SOUTHWEST NAT
194-200

RAUN, G. G. 1960. Barn owl pellets and small mammal populations near Mathis, Texas, in 1956 and 1959. Southwest. Nat. 5: 194-200.

Trends in North American small mammals found in common barn-owl (Tyto alba) dietary studies

Abstract

No full-text available

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