Home range size and habitat use of the little owl Athene noctua in East Poland

Abstract

Home ranges of 11 Little Owls Athene noctua were studied using radio telemetry in agricultural landscapes of eastern Poland during the breeding seasons of 2000-03. Owls were tracked from the time of egg laying until the young dispersed (15 April - 22 August). Areas of use were determined for three periods: egg laying and incubation period (15 April - 17 May), nestling period (8 May 28 June), and fledgling period (29 June - 22 August). During the egg laying and incubation period use areas were on average 18 ha (SD 20, 2.5-65.3, n= 9), during the nestling period 27.5 ha (SD 28.2, 1.9-95.0, n = 18), during the fledgling period 9.0 ha (SD 9.4, 1.8-34.1, n = 11). Combining data for all owls from all breeding season periods, the area of use was 1.8-95.0 ha (average 19.9 ha, SD = 23.2, n = 38). The majority of owl locations were recorded in fields (64%, mainly cereals). Fewer locations were in fields with row crops (12%, sugar beets, potatoes), on buildings (11%), gardens and orchards (9%), meadows - and pastures (2%), roads (1%) trees and bushes (1%). During the breeding season, the growth of vegetation limited the access that owls had to the ground. Little Owls spent 85-95% of their time at places where vegetation height did not exceed 20 cm.