The relationship between weather and reproduction of the Barn Owl Tyto alba in a semi-arid agricultural landscape in Israel_esi

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 253-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motti Charter ◽  
Ido Izhaki ◽  
Kobi Meyrom ◽  
Shauli Aviel ◽  
Yossi Leshem ◽  
...  

Even though the Barn Owl ( Tyto alba) is distributed worldwide, little information is available on how weather affects Barn Owl breeding outside of Europe and North America. For instance, if cold temperatures can negatively influence population dynamics in temperate regions, heat could have a similar negative effect in arid regions. We have studied a breeding population of Barn Owls in a semi-arid agricultural environment over 13 years in Israel in order to determine whether lack of rain and hot ambient temperatures impair Barn Owl reproductive success. The percentage of nest boxes occupied by Barn Owls was not related to any of the weather variables, whereas the number of nestlings per Barn Owl pair and the percentage of pairs that succeeded to fledge young was lower in years when it started to rain later in the season and when the minimum daily temperature was higher during the breeding season. In comparison to temperate regions, heat is detrimental to Barn Owl breeding and early precipitation is probably important in boosting vegetation and, in turn, the abundance of small mammals, the Barn Owl's staple food.


2004 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-50
Author(s):  
Abdeslam Rihane ◽  
Patrick Bergier ◽  
Saadia Mahari
Keyword(s):  
Barn Owl ◽  

2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boyan Milchev

Coexistence of predator species often depends on behaviours or preferences that result in spatio-temporal reduction of competition. In this study, the diets of coexisting barn owls (Tyto alba) and eagle owls (Bubo bubo) in an agricultural landscape of SE Bulgaria were compared. White-toothed shrews (Crociduraspp.), voles (Microtusspp.) and mice (Musspp.) were the main prey of barn owl (86.3% by number, 81.2% by biomass) with significantly different frequencies in annual diets. The principle biomass (64.8 ± 6.2%) of the significantly different eagle owl annual diets comprised much heavier prey such as white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus), European hare (Lepus europaeus) and non-passerine birds of wetlands and open habitats. The two owl species preferred and hunted on different prey size groups in the same territory, and this difference explained the low level of food competition (6.0 ± 3.6% diet overlap according to prey biomass). Voles were the only prey of the two owls with significantly different frequencies for the annual diets in intraspecies comparisons. The proportions of voles in both diets showed similar trends during the study. Eagle owl predation on barn owls was slightly affected by their coexisting breeding despite the high levels of food stress of eagle owl. These findings provide insight into how preying habits can predict successful coexistence of potentially competing predator species.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ján Obuch ◽  
Štefan Danko ◽  
Michal Noga

Abstract We completed data on the diet of the barn owl (Tyto alba) predominately from pellets for the period of the last 50 years from Slovakia. We analyzed material from 251 locations and 16 territorial units. The aggregate represents 119,231 pieces of prey from 47 species of mammals (Mammalia, 95.7%) and 58 species of birds (Aves, 3.9%), with a small representation of amphibians, reptiles (Amphibia and Reptilia, 0.2%) and invertebrates (Invertebrata, 0.2%). The obtaining of food among the owls is limited to synanthropic environments and the surrounding agricultural landscape, and the centre of its distribution in the recent period (i.e. the past 50 years: 1965-201 5) has been concentrated mainly on the southern parts of Slovakia. In this environment the common vole (Microtus arvalis, 59.6%) is the primary prey. Additional prey are rodents of the family Muridae: Mus musculus (5.6%), Micromys minutus (2.2%), Apodemus microps (2.2%), A. flavicollis (2.0%), A. sylvaticus (1 .6%) and A. agrarius (1 .5%); insectivores of the family Soricidae: Sorex araneus (6.2%), S. minutus (2.4%), Crocidura leucodon (4.8%) and C. suaveolens (2.8%); and the house sparrow Passer domesticus (2.9%). In the higher situated Turcianska kotlina Basin the species M. arvalis (74.3%) has higher domination, and instead of the white-toothed shrews the water shrews Neomys anomalus (2.8%) and N. fodiens (1 .3%) are more abundantly represented. In 3 localities owls focused on hunting bats; for example, in the church in Ratková the order Chiroptera made up 35.2% of prey. From the subrecent period (i.e. from before more than 50 years ago) we evaluate 4 samples from the territory of Slovakia with 15,601 pieces of prey ofT. alba. Before more than 50 years ago owls were also more abundantly represented at higher elevations in Slovakia, evidence of which is Weisz’s collection of pellets from 1 6 localities in the Ondavská vrchovina Upland in the years 1945 to 1963, but also a registry of data from the 19th and 20th centuries from higher located basins. In 4 samples of food from the subrecent period diversity in the representation of owl prey is higher, accompanied by low domination ofM. arvalis and a more abundant representation of murids from the genera Mus and Apodemus. The oldest sample, dated to the 16th century, is from a church in Žilina-Rudiny


2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hana Latková

Seasonal changes in food composition of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in the northern part of the "Záhorie" region 33 prey species (10 296 individuals) were recovered from pellets of the Barn Owl in northern part of the "Záhorie" region (Western Slovakia) during period 2002-2006. The family Arvicolidae constituted 65.68 % of recoveries, Soricidae 17.86 %, Muridae 16.64 %, Talpidae 0.04 %, Gliridae 0.02 %, Mustelidae 0.02 %, Vespertilionidae 0.04 % and Aves 4.7 %. Microtus arvalis was predominantly represented by 65.2 %. For evaluation of diet data "The marked differences from the mean method" was used. The results of pellet analyses provide, besides information about owl diet, also new data about occurrence and geographical distribution of small mammalian species and importance of predators in agricultural landscape.


Ornis Svecica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 139-150
Author(s):  
Pablo Jiménez-Nájar ◽  
Jorge Garrido-Bautista ◽  
Rubén Tarifa ◽  
José Manuel Rivas ◽  
Gregorio Moreno-Rueda

The diets of the Barn Owl Tyto alba and the Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus have been extensively studied worldwide over the past few years, especially on the Iberian Peninsula. Nevertheless, very few studies have examined the diets and the trophic niche overlap in areas where these two raptor species occur in sympatry. As such, in this study we compared the diets of the Barn Owl and the Short-eared Owl inhabiting agricultural landscapes of the Vega de Granada, south-east Spain, based on pellet analysis. The diets were very similar, as both owls preyed mainly on small mammals, the Algerian Mouse Mus spretus being the prey most commonly found in pellets from both species. Although the diet of the Barn Owl was more diverse than that of the Short-eared Owl, the food niche overlap was very high, thus indicating a low interspecific trophic segregation. Despite the similarities between both diets, the frequency of the Mediterranean Pine Vole Microtus duodecimcostatus was much higher in pellets from the Barn Owl, thus suggesting that the Barn Owl may exert pest control in years when the Mediterranean Pine Vole occurs in high numbers.


2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Lekunze ◽  
A. U. Ezealor ◽  
T. Aken'ova
Keyword(s):  
Barn Owl ◽  

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safwan Saufi ◽  
Shakinah Ravindran ◽  
Hasber Salim
Keyword(s):  
Barn Owl ◽  

Author(s):  
Vivien Cosandey ◽  
Robin Séchaud ◽  
Paul Béziers ◽  
Yannick Chittaro ◽  
Andreas Sanchez ◽  
...  

AbstractBird nests are specialized habitats because of their particular composition including nest detritus and bird droppings. In consequence, they attract a specialized arthropod community considered as nidicolous, which includes species only found in bird nests (strictly nidicolous) or sometimes found in bird nests (facultatively nidicolous). Because the factors influencing the entomofauna in bird nests are poorly understood, in autumn 2019, we collected nest material in 86 Barn Owl (Tyto alba) nest boxes. We investigated whether the invertebrate species richness was related to Barn Owl nest box occupancy, the density of available nest boxes and the landscape structure. We found 3,321 nidicolous beetle specimens belonging to 24 species. Species richness of strictly nidicolous beetles was 2.7 times higher in nest boxes occupied by a family of Barn Owls the previous spring compared to unoccupied nest boxes. It was also higher in sites that were more often occupied by Barn Owls in the five previous years and in areas surrounded by a higher proportion of crop fields. For facultatively nidicolous beetles, the density of Barn Owl nest boxes enhanced the species richness. In conclusion, our study suggests that the strictly nidicolous beetles benefit from occupied nest boxes of Barn Owls, whereas facultatively nidicolous beetles look for nest boxes independently of whether Barn Owls occupy them. Our study highlights the importance of bird nests for a suite of invertebrates.


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