Abstract
We provide the first detailed description of the diet of Burrowing Owls ( Athene cunicularia ) for Ecuador, based on an analysis of 408 pellets collected from one locality in the north and one in the south of the central dry Andean Valley. Our results are consistent with previous studies in the Neotropics that document the importance of insects in the diet. Rodents made up 78.8% of the biomass in our sample. Additionally, we highlight the first record of the Andean eared mouse Phyllotis andium in a xeric environment, which was identified in the pellets.
Highlights
The knowledge of the food type that a species consumes is important to establish inter and intraspecific interactions (Marti et al 1993)
We provide the first detailed description of the diet of Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) for Ecuador, based on an analysis of 408 pellets collected from one locality in the north and one in the south of the central dry Andean Valley
We found 37 taxa (10 vertebrates and 27 invertebrates) in the pellets of A. cunicularia, based on 408 pellets analysed from the two localities in Ecuador (Piedra Labrada and Tababela)
Summary
The knowledge of the food type that a species consumes is important to establish inter and intraspecific interactions (Marti et al 1993). Marks et al (1999) mention that diet is the betterknown ecological aspect of owls due to the presence of pellets, but this general statement does not necessarily reflects the reality for species in Ecuador (Freile et al 2012, Cadena-Ortiz et al 2013). The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) usually lives in pairs or family groups, associated with burrows dug into soft ground. This owl has a wide distribution, from the North American plains to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. Pichinchae in open arid areas of the Andes, mainly between 1500–2000 m a.s.l., and A. c. Punensis, smaller in size and found in coastal areas of the southwest, below 50 m a.s.l. In Ecuador, it is considered rare and two subspecies occur; A. c. pichinchae in open arid areas of the Andes, mainly between 1500–2000 m a.s.l., and A. c. punensis, smaller in size and found in coastal areas of the southwest, below 50 m a.s.l. (Ridgely & Greenfield 2001, König & Weick 2008)
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