Abstract
We investigated prey selection of the Barn Owl Tyto alba under captive conditions where birds were allowed to choose among individuals of varying size from four field rodent species: Bandicota bengalensis, Millardia meltada, Tatera indica and Mus booduga. Owls showed little species preference and a tendency to favour the medium weight class in all prey species except M. booduga. Preference for body parts consumed varied according to prey size, ranging from the head alone in the large weight class to the entire body in the small weight class. Biochemical measurements showed that protein, carbohydrate and lipid levels were higher respectively in the brain, liver and muscles of all three species and weight classes studied. The preference for medium weight prey despite a lower nutrient content compared to large weight prey is attributed to a greater ease of capture.
Highlights
The Barn Owl Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769) is one of the most widely-distributed predators of rodents (Taylor 1994; Leonardi & Dell Arte 2006; Neelanarayanan 2007a, b)
Prey species preference: The Barn Owl seemed to have more preference for B. bengalensis (29%) and M. meltada (27.8%), while the T. indica and the field mouse, M. booduga were the least preferred diets as their relative preference index values were respectively 24% and 19.2% only, which was confirmed by Jacobs Preference Index (Table 2)
It is apparent from the results that rodents which grew up to 200g (B. bengalensis, and T. indica) the order of preference by Barn Owl was medium weight class > small weight class > large weight class
Summary
The Barn Owl Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769) is one of the most widely-distributed predators of rodents (Taylor 1994; Leonardi & Dell Arte 2006; Neelanarayanan 2007a, b). In the Cauvery Delta of southern India the Barn Owl mainly feeds on the Indian Mole Rat Bandicota bengalensis, Soft-furred Field Rat Millardia meltada and the House Rat Rattus rattus (Neelanarayanan 2007b). They are known to shift their prey preference between the pre-nesting and nesting seasons (Santhanakrishnan 1987). This study was carried out under captive conditions to assess prey selection in terms of prey species, prey size and body parts of prey eaten by Barn Owls using four common field rodent species viz., Indian Mole Rat Bandicota bengalensis, Soft-furred Field Rat Millardia meltada, Indian Field Mouse Mus booduga and Indian Gerbil Tatera indica
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