Abstract
The aim of this study was to describe how the diet of tawny owl changed along an urbanisation gradient. The research was conducted from 2003 to 2011 in central Poland. Pellets were collected in the following zones: the center of Warsaw, capital city of Poland (inhabited by approximately 2 million people), its outskirts and rural areas beyond the city. To investigate the differences in the percentages of the main groups of prey between the three zones, a redundancy analysis (RDA) method was implemented using CANOCO software. Sparrows, rats, pine voles and striped field mice were most connected to the city center, whereas voles (all species pooled together), northern birch mice, hazel dormice and insects were more commonly found among prey items collected in rural areas. As the outskirts were transitional areas where different habitats typical for both rural areas (such as forest complexes) and urban areas (such as parks or built-up areas) were present, no prey group was strongly connected to this landscape. Mammals were dominant in the diet in winter in all habitat types. Their share ranged from 52% (in the city center) to approximately 90% in the outskirts and rural areas. Birds, amphibians, reptiles and insects were more frequent in summer. Overall, the study confirmed high plasticity of the species as an opportunistic predator and its ability to adapt to long-term changes in its main prey in most urbanized areas.
Highlights
The tawny owl Strix aluco Linnaeus, 1758 managed to colonise almost all terrestrial habitats within its range thanks to its high flexibility in choice of nesting sites, moderate anthropophobia and ability to hunt for a wide range of prey (Cramp 1985)
The aim of the present study was to characterise the diet of tawny owl in three areas along an urbanisation gradient—city center, outskirts and rural areas—and show how the diet of urban tawny owls changed when the number of sparrows, their main prey item, dropped severely
In Warsaw, data were collected in city center and outskirts (15 sites in total)
Summary
The tawny owl Strix aluco Linnaeus, 1758 managed to colonise almost all terrestrial habitats within its range thanks to its high flexibility in choice of nesting sites, moderate anthropophobia and ability to hunt for a wide range of prey (Cramp 1985). The tawny owl is the most numerous owl species in Poland (Tomiałojć and Stawarczyk 2003) as well as in Europe (Petty and Saurola 1997); it can adapt to life in habitats highly transformed by humans, such as city agglomerations (Cramp 1985; Galeotti et al 1991; Goszczyński et al 1993). The tawny owl is one of few owls. The aim of the present study was to characterise the diet of tawny owl in three areas along an urbanisation gradient—city center, outskirts and rural areas—and show how the diet of urban tawny owls changed when the number of sparrows, their main prey item, dropped severely
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