On the prey of the spotted owlet Athene brama (Temminck) in a forested ravine in Auroville, Pondicherry

Abstract

Pellets of a pair of Athene brama and their young were gathered outside their nesting cavity during the breeding season (January to April) in two consecutive years (2002 & 2003). 2,122 prey items were identified in 197 pellets. Basic food (> 20%) consisted of beetles and hymenopterans; constant food (5-20%) of termites and othopterans; supplementary food (1-5%) was scorpions, spiders, cockroaches, ant lion larvae, moths, lizards and mice; and chance food (< 1%) of snails, centipedes, dragonflies, mantids, bugs, flies, insectivorous bats and shrews.