scholarly journals Barn owl pellets collected in coastal savannas yield two additional species of small mammals for French Guiana

Mammalia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Baglan ◽  
François Catzeflis

AbstractA sample of 251 pellets regurgitated by the barn owl in an old building located in Sinnamary (French Guiana) provided a rare opportunity to get a preliminary inventory of small rodents and opossums living in grassy savannas along the coastal non-forested landscapes of this Guianan region. From a total of 329 specimens of vertebrate remains, we focused on 259 small rodents and opossums that could be positively identified. Two species previously unknown in French Guiana were evidenced: a very small opossum of the genus

2021 ◽  
pp. 175815592110660
Author(s):  
Jenő J Purger ◽  
Dávid Szép

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 km radius. 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.


1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 611 ◽  
Author(s):  
JDB Smith ◽  
J Cole

The diet of the barn owl was determined by analysing egested pellets collected from the Tanami Desert. These data were also used to examine the distribution of small mammals in the region. Rodents were the dominant prey items, forming more than 74% of prey biomass in all samples. The dominant rodent species were those that undergo large fluctuations in population size. Notomys alexis was the dominant prey item in 15 of the 17 samples. In all samples, one or two species of rodents formed 47-100% of prey biomass. Dasyurids were relatively minor prey items, forming less than 12% of prey biomass in all samples. It is suggested that this is a reflection of their abundance relative to rodents. Bats, birds, lizards and insects combined formed less than 14% of prey biomass in all but one sample (24%). Behavioural and life-history characteristics of prey appear to affect their susceptibility to predation. The analysis of pellets proved to be a useful supplementary technique to conventional methods of surveying small mammals. All species of small mammal that could be expected were identified in owl pellets. Notomys amplus was recorded in pellets but not collected by conventional techniques.


Quaternary ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Emmanuelle Stoetzel ◽  
Corentin Bochaton ◽  
Salvador Bailon ◽  
David Cochard ◽  
Monica Gala ◽  
...  

Paleo- and neo-taphonomic analyses of bone assemblages rarely consider all the occurring taxa in a single study and works concerning birds of prey as accumulators of microvertebrate bone remains mostly focus on small mammals such as rodents and soricomorphs. However, raptors often hunt and consume a large range of taxa, including vertebrates such as small mammals, fishes, amphibians, squamates and birds. Bone remains of all these taxonomic groups are numerous in many paleontological and archaeological records, especially in cave deposits. To better characterize the predators at the origin of fossil and sub-fossil microvertebrate accumulations and the taphonomic history of the deposit, it is thus mandatory to conduct global and multi-taxa taphonomic approaches. The aim of this study is to provide an example of such a global approach through the investigation of a modern bone assemblage from a sample of pellets produced by the Lesser Antillean Barn Owl (Tyto insularis) in the island of Dominica. We propose a new methodology that allows us to compare different taxa (rodents, bats, squamates and birds) and to experiment with a cross-validation process using two observers for each taxonomic group to test the reliability of the taphonomic observations.


2008 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Magrini ◽  
KG. Facure

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.


1953 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. Baker ◽  
A. A. Alcorn
Keyword(s):  
Barn Owl ◽  

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4938 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-100
Author(s):  
OLAVI KURINA ◽  
HEIKKI HIPPA

The Neotropical species of the genus Manota Williston are studied, based on material of 146 specimens from French Guiana, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Dominica and the Dominican Republic. Four new species are described, viz. M. corniculata sp. n. (French Guiana), M. pseudocavata sp. n. (French Guiana), M. truuverki sp. n. (French Guiana) and M. vladi sp. n. (Dominican Republic). Manota defecta Williston, 1896, the type species of the genus, is listed from Dominica, representing the first record since its description more than a century ago from a Southern Caribbean Island, St. Vincent. New records of 13 additional species are provided: M. acutistylus Jaschhof & Hippa, 2005 (Dominica), M. aligera Hippa, Kurina & Sääksjärvi, 2017 (French Guiana), M. digitata Hippa, Kurina & Sääksjärvi, 2017 (French Guiana), M. iota Hippa & Kurina, 2013 (French Guiana), M. micula Hippa & Kurina, 2013 (French Guiana), M. nordestina Kurina, Hippa & Amorim, 2018 (French Guiana), M. parva Jaschhof & Hippa, 2005 (Nicaragua), M. pauloides Hippa, Kurina & Sääksjärvi, 2017 (Ecuador), M. perplexa Kurina, Hippa & Amorim, 2017 (Nicaragua), M. rotundistylus Jaschhof & Hippa, 2005 (Ecuador), M. serrulata Hippa, Kurina & Sääksjärvi, 2017 (French Guiana), M. spinosa Jaschhof & Hippa, 2005 (French Guiana), M. subaristata Kurina, Hippa & Amorim, 2017 (Ecuador). The number of Neotropical Manota species has risen to 96. 


Check List ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 552
Author(s):  
Pablo Teta ◽  
Ulyses F. J. Pardiñas
Keyword(s):  
Santa Fe ◽  

Three owl pellets samples collected in the localities of Pedro Gómez Cello (= Estación Km. 197; 30°02’14” S, 60°18’56” W), Colonia Silva (= Estación Abipones; 30°26’59” S, 60°25’58” W) and Jacinto L. Arauz (30°44’01” S, 60°58’31” W), Province of Santa Fe, Argentina, were studied. We registered 11 genera of small mammals, including Didelphidae marsupials (1 species), and Caviidae (1), Cricetidae (10), and Muridae (1) rodents. We documented the southernmost record for Pseudoryzomys simplex and the first and second recording localities for Santa Fe of Oligoryzomys nigripes and Graomys chacoensis, respectively.


Bird Study ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Meek ◽  
Peter J. Burman ◽  
Tim H. Sparks ◽  
Marek Nowakowski ◽  
Niall J. Burman

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