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

Abstract

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.

Effects of a forest landscape on the prey composition of the Common Barn-owl Tyto alba in southern Bulgaria

“…The lack of data on the populations of small mammals in the area and in its diverse microhabitats did not permit assessing how selectively the owls hunted. The study suggested the plastic hunting strategy of Common Barn-owl as an opportunistic generalist (Bernard et al 2010;Veselovský et al 2017;Saufi et al 2020), allowing it to inhabit a remarkable variety of different habitats combinations in southern Bulgaria.…”

Ecological countermeasures for preventing zoonotic disease outbreaks: when ecological restoration is a human health imperative

“…Becker et al (2018), summarizing the findings of a collection of scientific papers that investigate the influence of anthropogenic resources subsidies on host-pathogen dynamics in wildlife, conclude that public education and adaptive management can contribute to "winwin" scenarios for feeding wildlife that optimize benefits for conservation, wildlife disease management, and human health. Nest boxes have been used to increase and expand populations of native barn owls (Tyto alba) to control non-native rodent populations in agricultural and urban environments (Saufi et al 2020). In Vermont, private landowners constructed more than 400 houses to attract native tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) for mosquito control.…”

An assessment of the reproduction, predation, and nesting behavior of Sulawesi Masked-owl (Tyto rosenbergii) in oil palm plantation: A case study of West and Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…The feeding behavior of owls is by tearing the prey apart, except for the small-sized that is swallowed as a whole. According to Syaufi et al (2020), T. alba has a preference for medium prey. Also, owls cannot digest all the food they eat, therefore, they regurgitate some as pellets.…”

“…They are active at night to hunt rats, small animals, and other wild birds (Rabou 2019). This species has a wide distribution (Taylor 1994), with small mammals being the dominant prey (Hovarth et al 2018;Milchev 2015;Syaufi et al 2020;Marti 2010) and are bred in oil palm plantation by making nest box. This is evident to Bank et al (2019) that the installation of the nest box is a measure in maintaining the owl population.…”