Spotted Owlet Athene brama brama (Temmink 1821)- A Potential Biocontrol Agent in Agricultural Landscape

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the role of spotted owlet as bio control agent in agricultural landscape by knowing its food habits. A total of 282 pellets were collected during the study period were analyzed and identified by using standard keys.The diet of the owlet was predominantly insects (51%) followed by rodents (33%), herpetofauna (9.5%) and unidentified invertebrates (6.5%). Among the rodents (33%) Rattus rattus, Bandicota bengalensis, Funambulus palamaram, Mus musculus and Mus booduga. The insects (51%) which includes Orthoptera (21%), Coleoptera (19%) and Dermaptera (11%) were predominantly recorded. The month wise analysis for the year 2015-17 showed that the diet of the spotted owlet closely related to availability of prey in the study area. The occurrences of insects were dominant during the month of April to September and from October to March the rodents were predominant. The overall analysis showed that the spotted owlet diet consists of predominantly insects followed by rodents, reptiles, amphibians (Opportunistic) and played significant role in reducing the various crop pests in the study range.