Diet of barn owl Tyto alba stertens hartert, 1929 in a portion of cauvery delta, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The diet of Barn Owls was studied between February 1993 and January 1995. The analysis of 4,030 regurgitated pellets yielded 6,157 prey items, of which the mean percentage of prey composition of Barn Owl comprising rodents were to the tune of 32.79 for Bandicota bengalensis, 29.40 for Millardia meltada, 3.90 for Mus booduga, 2.15 for Tatera indica, 6.38 for Rattus rattus and 6.99 for unidentified species. The Barn Owls consumed 352.18g of prey comprising six species of small mammals during this period. Among these, B. bengalensis was 45.13% followed by M. meltada (32.84%), R. rattus (10.98%), Suncus murinus (6.43%), T. indica (3.73%) and M. booduga (0.89%). The observed mean prey items/pellet was 1.51 in the first year and 1.46 in the second year of study suggesting the fact that Barn Owls consume more than one prey/day. The results of the present study indicate that the Barn Owls are potential hunters of rodent pests and are good controlling agents in crop fields and fallow lands. © ZOO.