Food habits of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in a steppe area of Tunisia

Leonardi, Giovanni; Dell’Arte, Graziella Lucia

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2005.10.007

Cited by 16 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Differential predation by Barn Owls has been demonstrated in several studies, with owls preying either on larger (Derting andCranford 1989, Bellocq 1998) or smaller prey (Colvin and McLean 1986, Leonardi and Dell'Arte 2006, Granjon and Traoré 2007 than expected based on availability. In paddy fields, Malaysian Barn Owls preyed mostly on adult rats, although juveniles were also taken when available (Hafidzi and Na'im 2003a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Differential predation has been described in numerous owl species, e.g., Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus; Blem et al 1993), Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo; Donazar and Ceballos 1989), Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus; Longland andJenkins 1987, Rohner andKrebs 1996), and Eastern Screech-Owls (Otus asio; Marti and Hogue 1979). Several studies of Barn Owls have described their tendency to feed on either smaller (Dickman et al 1991, Leonardi and Dell'Arte 2006, Granjon and Traoré 2007 or larger prey (Derting andCranford 1989, Castro andJaksic 1995), depending on seasonal changes in prey populations or habitat conditions. Although differential predation by Barn Owls has been demonstrated, they may not be truly selective predators and may readily switch to other prey species (Morton and Martin 1979, Heywood and Pavey 2002, Tores et al 2005 or sizes (Muñ oz and Murú a 1990, Smal 1990, Gubanyi et al 1992, depending on prey abundance.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Absence of Differential Predation on Rats by Malaysian Barn Owls in Oil Palm Plantations

Puan

Goldizen

Mohamed

et al. 2011

Journal of Raptor Research

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Absence of Differential Predation on Rats by Malaysian Barn Owls in Oil Palm Plantations

Puan

Goldizen

Mohamed

et al. 2011

Journal of Raptor Research

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“…These previous studies hypothesized, on one hand, that the clades coexist in geographical sympatry across the entire Sahara, but also that they segregate to distinct micro-habitats [24]. The implied adaptive mechanism behind the origin of these putative species is the evolution of camouflage, as a response to avoid avian predators [28] [29]. Both the differences in fur luminosity between the clades and the animal-habitat color match detected here support this mechanism (Tables 2 and 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lesser Egyptian jerboa ( Jaculus jaculus ) is mainly a nocturnal animal hunted by predators (birds of prey, owls) that use also visual clues for prey detection [15] [28] [29]. Samples of jerboas (85 specimens) were collected at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Washington, D.C., USA (69) and during field expeditions to Mauritania (16 road-killed individuals; see Appendix S1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large Spatial Scale of the Phenotype-Environment Color Matching in Two Cryptic Species of African Desert Jerboas (Dipodidae: Jaculus)

et al. 2014

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We tested the camouflage hypothesis, or the linkage between animal (Saharan rodent) and habitat coloration, on the largest geographical scale yet conducted. We aimed to determine whether phenotypic variation is explained by micro-habitat variation and/or genetic polymorphism to determine 1) the strength of linkage between fur color and local substrate color, and 2) the divergence in fur coloration between two genetic clades, representing cryptic species, throughout the complete range of the African desert jerboas (Jaculus jaculus). We used a combination of museum and field-collected specimens, remote sensing tools, satellite and digital photography and molecular genetic and phylogenetic methods to investigate the above hypotheses. Along with showing that the two divergent genetic clades of jerboas occur sympatrically throughout their African distribution, we showed significant covariation between dorsal fur coloration of the animals and the color of their habitat. We also described significant phenotypic divergence in fur color, consistent with genetic divergence between the sympatric clades. The linkage between environment and phenotype supports the idea that the selection promoting cryptic coloration is persistent in contemporary populations of jerboas, however the phenotypic divergence indicates that it has different strengths (or optima) in the two clades. The mosaic distribution of micro-habitats occupied by geographically sympatric clades suggests that it may influence both ecological and evolutionary dynamics between these two cryptic species.

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“…(Taylor 2004). Its diet is particularly composed of small mammals in Europe (Bosè & Guidali 2001, Bontzorlos et al 2005, Bernard et al 2010, including the Mediterranean (Leonardi & Dell'arte 2006), and in North America (Colvin & McLean 1986). The Barn Owl is also able to specialize on bats (Boireau 2009, Sommer et al 2009, Roulin & Christe 2013, insects, birds, reptiles or primates (Vargas et al 2002, Tores & YomTov 2003, Shehab et al 2004, Escarlate-Tava res & Pessôa 2005, Alivizatos et al 2006, Platt et al 2009, Souza et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eco-geographical variation in the diet of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in mountainous areas of France

Halliez

Becel²,

Canella³

2015

Ornis Hungarica

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Because of the worldwide distribution of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) and the easily way to find its pellets, it is often used to diet studies. To investigate the eco-geographical impact of mountainous areas on its diet, we conducted studies in the Jura, Alpes, Central and Pyrénées mountains and we also did pellet analysis from 8 sites in the Jura mountains. Analysis of the tooth and skull content of pellets allowed us to draw up two types of change in the diet of Tyto alba in correlation with mountain elevation. The first one concerns the Jura, Alpes and Central mountains, where the diversity of the diet declines with the increase in elevation. The second one concerns the Pyrénées mountains, where there is no change in the diversity of the diet, perhaps because of the higher diversity of small mammals caused by mediterranean influence. Thus, it seems that elevation cau ses a decrease in diet diversity of Tyto alba in continental mountains (Jura, Alpes and Central mountains) probably because of more homogeneous landscapes dedicated to grass production. However, in Mediterranean mountains (Pyrénées), a more diversified small mammal guild provides a constant level of diet diversity.Keywords: Barn Owl, small mammals, mountain, mediterranean influence, continental influence Összefoglalás A gyöngybagoly (Tyto alba) egész világon való elterjedése, és köpeteinek könnyű fellelhetősége miatt gyakori alanya táplálkozási vizsgálatoknak. E dolgozatban a hegyvidéki környezet gyöngybagoly táplálko-zására kifejtett öko-geográfiai hatásait teszteltük a Jura, az Alpok, a Francia-középhegység és a Pireneusok terü-letén gyűjtött minták alapján, és köpet-analízist végeztünk a Jura-hegységből származó, 8 különböző területről gyűjtött mintából. A köpetekben talált fog-és koponyamaradványok analízise alapján két csoportot lehetett elkü-löníteni: a Jura, az Alpok és a Francia-középhegység területén a táplálék-diverzitása csökkent a tengerszint feletti magasság növekedésével, míg a Pireneusok területén ilyen változást nem tapasztaltunk. A különbség abból adód-hat, hogy a kontinentális hegységekben (Jura, Alpok, Francia-középhegység) a tengerszintfeletti magasság nö-vekedésével a homogénebb élőhelyek kedveznek a fűfélék növekedésének, így a kisemlős diverzitás is csökken, míg a mediterrán hegységek (Pireneusok) területén egy sokkal változatosabb kisemlős közösség biztosítja a táp-lálék-diverzitás állandóságát.

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Food habits of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in a steppe area of Tunisia

Cited by 16 publications

References 4 publications

Absence of Differential Predation on Rats by Malaysian Barn Owls in Oil Palm Plantations

Absence of Differential Predation on Rats by Malaysian Barn Owls in Oil Palm Plantations

Large Spatial Scale of the Phenotype-Environment Color Matching in Two Cryptic Species of African Desert Jerboas (Dipodidae: Jaculus)

Eco-geographical variation in the diet of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in mountainous areas of France

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