Dietary comparison of coexisting barn owl (Tyto alba) and eagle owl (Bubo bubo) during consecutive breeding seasons
Boyan P. Milchev
10.6084/m9.figshare.3470972.v1
https://brill.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Dietary_comparison_of_coexisting_barn_owl_Tyto_alba_and_eagle_owl_Bubo_bubo_during_consecutive_breeding_seasons/3470972
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<p>Coexistence
of predator species often depends on behaviours or preferences that result in
spatiotemporal reduction of competition. In this study, the diets of
coexisting barn owls (<i>Tyto alba</i>) and eagle owls (<i>Bubo bubo</i>) in
an agricultural landscape of SE Bulgaria were compared. White-toothed shrews (<i>Crocidura
</i>spp.), voles (<i>Microtus </i>spp.) and mice (<i>Mus </i>spp.) were the
main prey of barn owl (86.3% by number, 81.2% by biomass) with significantly
different frequencies in annual diets. The principle biomass (64.8 ± 6.2%) of the significantly
different eagle owl annual diets comprised much heavier prey such as
white-breasted hedgehog (<i>Erinaceus roumanicus</i>), European hare (<i>Lepus
europaeus</i>) and non-passerine birds of wetlands and open habitats. The two
owl species preferred and hunted on different prey size groups in the same
territory, and this difference explained the low level of food competition
(6.0 ± 3.6% diet overlap according to
prey biomass). Voles were the only prey of the two owls with significantly
different frequencies for the annual diets in intraspecies comparisons. The proportions
of voles in both diets showed similar trends during the study. Eagle owl
predation on barn owls was slightly affected by their coexisting breeding
despite the high levels of food stress of eagle owl. These findings provide
insight into how preying habits can predict successful coexistence of
potentially competing predator species.</p>
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2016-07-05 13:34:51
Coexisting predators
diet characteristics
feeding ecology
pellet analysis
Zoology