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Diet of the barn owl (Tyto alba) in two ecuadorian dry forest locations

Abstract:

The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is a nocturnal raptor, with an ample distribution worldwide; however, knowledge about its diet in the north of South America is still scarce. In this study, we analyzed 361 pellets and 664 g of pellet debris of T. alba from two localities in the dry forest of the interandean valley of Ecuador. We identified a total of 1118 prey items representing 27 taxa grouped into four classes: Insecta, Reptilia, Aves and Mammalia. The most frequent prey item was the rodent Reithrodontomys soederstroemi (Cricetidae). A comparative analysis with other studies conducted in northern South America showed a 70.1% similarity between prey groups consumed by this raptor.