Content uploaded by Felipe Siverio
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Felipe Siverio
Content may be subject to copyright.
3715: THE HOOPOE Upupa epops AS PREY OF
BARN OWL Tyto alba IN THE CANARY
ISLANDS
La Huppe fasciée Upupa epops, proie de la Chouette
effraie Tyto alba aux Iles Canaries.
Although birds are secondary items in the diet of
the Barn Owl Tyto alba,some cases in capture spe-
cialization (HEIM DEBALSAC,1965; CARPENTER &
FALL, 1967; FERNÁNDEZ-CRUZ & GARCÍA,1969;
etc.), selection (cf. BUNN et al., 1982; BARBOSA et al.,
1989) and consumption of exceptional species have
been described. With respect to the latter, worthy of
mention is the capture of large species such as Fulica
americana (SMITH & MARTI, 1976), Gallinula chloro-
pus (CRAMP,1985) and various raptors (Falco
sparverius [SMITH & MARTI,1976], F. naumanni,
Otus scops [SIRACUSA & CIACCIO,1985], etc.). In this
note, the presence of the Hoopoe Upupa epops in the
diet of the Barn Owl in the Canary Islands is reported,
afact which, according to the bibliography and
ornithologists consulted (Appendix and
Acknowledgments), apparently constitutes the first
known record, at least in the Western Palearctic.
Predation has been confirmed at two localities on
the island of Tenerife (Los Realejos, 24 February
1978; Granadilla de Abona, August 1986) and at a
single site on the island of Lanzarote (Teguise,
14 January 2001). At the three localities, feathers per-
taining to 1-2 Hoopoes were found dispersed at the
base and in the interior of Barn Owl nesting cavities.
Also a pellet containing a Hoopoe skull was located
at one site. Furthermore, J.C. RANDO (pers. comm.)
identified bones of one adult Hoopoe together with
other subfossil remains (mainly of Procellariiformes)
which can be ascribed to predatory activity of the
Barn Owl in the past. This material was collected in a
superficial level of an archaeological deposit situated
on the north coast of Tenerife (M.C. LEÓN leg.), and
now forms part of the island’s Museo de la
Naturaleza y el Hombre.
Although the Hoopoe is larger than the bird
species usually captured by Spanish Barn Owls (cf.
BARBOSA et al., 1989), its presence or absence in the
diet of this owl is most probably related to hunting
opportunities as opposed to the imposition of a size
restriction. The wide chronological separation of our
data in the Canaries tends to indicate that favourable
conditions for capturing Hoopoes are infrequent.
Moreover, future cases of predation will become even
less frequent due to the continued decline of the
species in the Archipelago, especially in the western
islands (MARTÍN & LORENZO,2001). On Tenerife our
data were obtained in areas of the lower xerophytic
vegetation zone, between 50-150 m. a.s.l., where both
species concentrate their distribution range (MARTÍN,
1987; SIVERIO & CARRILLO,1993). Judging by our
observation dates in both islands (cf. MARTÍN, 1987;
MARTÍN & LORENZO,2001), the Hoopoes captured
were most likely young birds which are more vulner-
able to predation.
In general, the Hoopoe is barely exploited by rap-
tors, and its capture very rarely acquires importance
(cf. BERGIER,1987). In the Canary Islands, predation
by Long-eared Owl Asio otus (pers. obs.), Eleonora’s
Falcon Falco eleonorae (HERNÁNDEZ et al., 1985)
and Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus (DELGADO et al.,
1988) seems to be very rare, although in some areas
of mainland Spain the latter species is its principal
predator (M. MARTÍN-VIVALDI,in litt.).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Weare very grateful to Andrés BARBOSA,Patrick
BERGIER,Ángel HERNÁNDEZ,Manuel MARTÍN-VIVALDI,
Juan C. RANDO and Octavio TRUJILLO for the information
given. In addition to revising an earlier version of the
manuscript, Beneharo RODRÍGUEZ carried out the English
translation and Rubén BARONE helped us in the field
work. Finally, thanks to Keith EMMERSON for looking
over the English.
REFERENCES
•BARBOSA (A.), LÓPEZ (M.ı J.) & NIEVA (A.) 1989.–
Selección de aves-presa por la Lechuza Común (Tyto
alba Scop.) en España. Ardeola,36: 206-210.
• BERGIER (P.) 1987.– Les Rapaces diurnes du Maroc.
Statut, Répartition et Ecologie. Annales du C.E.E.P.
(ex C.R.O.P.), 3: 1-160. • BUNN (D.S.), WARBURTON
(A.B.) & WILSON (R.D.S.) 1982.– The Barn Owl.T&
A D Poyser, Calton. 264 p.
• CARPENTER (M.L.) & FALL (W.M.) 1967.– The Barn
Owl as a Red-winged Blackbird predator in
Northwestern Ohio. Ohio J. Sci., 67: 317-318.
•CRAMP (S.) (ed.) 1985.– The Birds of the Western
Palearctic.Vol. IV. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
960 pp.
•D
ELGADO (G.), MARTÍN (A.), QUILIS (V.) & EMMERSON
(K.) 1988.– Alimentación del Gavilán (Accipiter
nisus)en la Isla de Tenerife. Doñana, Acta
Vertebrata, 15: 193-199.
•F
ERNÁNDEZ-CRUZ (M.) & GARCÍA (M.P.) 1969.– Tyto
alba alimentándose principalmente de Sturnus uni-
color.Ardeola, 15: 146.
•H
EIM de BALSAC (H.) 1965.– Quelques enseignements
d’ordre faunistique tirés de l’étude du régime alimen-
taire de Tyto alba dans l’Ouest de l’Afrique. Alauda,
33: 309-322. • HERNÁNDEZ (E.), MARTÍN (A.), DÍAZ
(G.), TRUJILLO (O.) & ASCANIO (M.) 1985.– Censo y
Alauda 73 (3), 2005338
datos sobre la biología del Halcón de Eleonor (Falco
eleonorae Gené, 1839) en las Islas Canarias. Agosto-
septiembre 1983. Doñana, Acta Vertebrata,12: 63-
73.
•M
ARTÍN (A.) 1987.– Atlas de las aves nidificantes en la
isla de Tenerife.Instituto de Estudios Canarios,
Tenerife. 275 pp. • MARTÍN (A.) & LORENZO (J.A.)
2001.– Aves del archipiélago canario.Francisco
Lemus, Editor. La Laguna. 787 p.
•SMITH (D.G.) & MARTI (C.D.) 1976.– Distributional sta-
tus and ecology of Barn Owls in Utah. Raptor
Research,10: 33-44. • SIRACUSA (M.) & CIACCIO (A.)
1985.– Dieta del Barbagianni, Tyto alba,esue vari-
azioni stagionali in un’area della Sicilia sud-occiden-
tale. Riv. ital. Orn., 55: 151-160. • SIVERIO (F.) & CAR-
RILLO (J.) 1993.– Hábitat y reproducción de la Lechuza
Común (Tyto alba)en Tenerife (Islas Canarias).
Contribución a su estudio. Alytes, 6: 231-240.
Felipe SIVERIO
Ctra. General 20, San Vicente,
E-38410 Los Realejos, Tenerife, Canary Islands
(felipe.siverio@tiscali.es)
Juan A. LORENZO
Departamento de Biología Animal (Zoología),
Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Laguna.
E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands
(jalorenz@ull.es)
APPENDIX
List of the bibliography consulted in the preparation of
this note.
GEYR von SCHWEPPENBURG,1907 (Ornithol. Jahrb., 18: 39-43);
BROSSET,1956 (Alauda,24: 303-305); BANNERMAN,1963 (Birds
of the Atlantic Islands.Vol. I.); BANNERMAN &BANNERMAN,
1965 (Birds of the Atlantic Islands.Vol. II.); VERNON,1972
(Ostrich,43: 109-124); HERRERA,1974 (Ardeola,19: 359-394);
SANS-COMA,1974 (Misc. Zool., 3: 163-169); PÉREZ CHISCANO,
1975 (Ardeola,21: 753-794); LOVARI et al., 1976 (Boll. Zool., 43:
173-191); GARCÍA,1982 (Doñana, Acta Vertebrata,9: 397-402);
VARGAS et al., 1982 (Misc. Zool., 6: 95-102); DELIBESet al., 1983
(Ardeola,30: 57-63); MIKKOLA,1983 (Owls of Europe); BRUNET-
LECOMTE &DELIBES,1984 (Doñana, Acta Vertebrata, 11: 213-
229); CAMACHO &PLEGUEZUELOS,1984 (II Reunión Iberoamer.
Cons.Zool. Vert.: 254-261); MARTÍN &MACHADO, 1985
(Vieraea,15: 43-46); MARTÍN et al., 1985 (Ardeola,32: 9-15);
SARÀ &MASSA,1985 (Riv. ital. Orn., 55: 61-73); CORTÉS, 1988
(Doñana, Acta Vertebrata,15: 99-109); TRUJILLO &BARONE,
1991 (Ardeola,38: 343); CONCEPCIÓN,1992 (Avifauna del
Parque Nacional de Timanfaya); DELGADO,1993 (Vieraea, 22:
133-137); RANDO,1993 (in various authors. Dpto. de Biología
Animal, Univ. de La Laguna. Unpublished report); MOSCHETTI et
al., 1995 (Avocetta,19: 118). AULAGNIER et al., 1999 (Alauda,
67: 323-326).
Notes 339
EN BREF…
nBaguage de Passereaux migrateurs à Doñana.
Cette étude se déroule chaque année sur une
période de 9 semaines (septembre à début novem-
bre). Des bagueurs expérimentés sont recherchés.
Pour plus d’information voir le site: www-
rbd.ebd.csic. es/ segu/aves/Paserif/indice.ht.es.
Contact :José Luis Arroyo Matos, Equipo de
Seguimiento de Procesos Naturales, Estación
Biológica de Doñana, Apdo. 4. 21760
Matalascañas, HUELVA,Spain (Tél.+ 34 959
440032 / 36 - Fax. +34 959 440033, e-mail:
joseluis@ebd.csic.es ou jlam-1@teleline.es).
nBibliographie ornithologique de la région
PACA et de la Corse. Cette bibliographie cou-
vrant la période 1552 à 2004, comporte des
monographies, des articles de revues, des thèses,
des actes de congrès…
Contact :Julie Molzino, LPO antenne de
Cavaillon, Bureau 1, 21 avenue de Provence,
F- 84300 CAVAILLON (Tél. Fax. 04 90 06 07 46 -
julie.molzino@wanadoo.fr).
nSNPN. Le programme des sorties d’initiation à
la nature est disponible.
Contact :SNPN, 9 rue Cels, F-75014 Paris (01
43 20 15 39 - snpn@wanadoo.fr).
n24th International Ornithological Congress.
La seconde circulaire concernant ce congrès qui
se tiendra du 13 au 19 août 2006 à Hambourg
(Allemagne) est disponible sur le site:
Contact :www.i-o-c.org. Pour obtenir la
circulairepar e-mail: info@i-o-c.org.
nLe bassin du Rio Pilcomayo paraguayen.
Restée pratiquement inviolée jusqu’à nos jours
cette région où se croisent et s’interconnectent
divers flux d’oiseaux migrateurs est gravement
menacée. Dans le but de compiler un maximum
de documents et de données sur cette faune sur le
point de disparaître le “groupe Linnaeus” a mit
sur pied des excursions d’études.
Contact :Se rendre sur les pages Web : www.lin-
naeus.com.py et www.ephe.univ-montp2.fr
ERRATUM
nAlauda (2) 2005. Erratum,page 124, FIG.6a, b :
Dans les légendes, remplacer A= Grand Gravelot et
a: Ringed Plover par A= Pluvier argenté et a : Grey
Plover.
