Weather-Dependent Variation in the Winter Diet of Urban Roosting Long-Eared Owls Asio Otus in Pécs (Hungary)
Long-eared Owls (Asio otus) usually winter in groups in settlements, hunt at night and rest in evergreen trees during the day. From prey remnants regurgitated as pellets, one can detect species present in their hunting areas and changes in their abundance. Our aim was to reveal how the ratio of smal...
Published in: | Avian Biology Research |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
SAGE Publications
2018
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3184/175815617x15103217178364 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3184/175815617X15103217178364 |
id |
crsagepubl:10.3184/175815617x15103217178364 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crsagepubl:10.3184/175815617x15103217178364 2023-05-15T15:56:29+02:00 Weather-Dependent Variation in the Winter Diet of Urban Roosting Long-Eared Owls Asio Otus in Pécs (Hungary) Szép, Dávid Bocz, Renáta Purger, Jenő J. 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.3184/175815617x15103217178364 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3184/175815617X15103217178364 en eng SAGE Publications http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license Avian Biology Research volume 11, issue 1, page 1-6 ISSN 1758-1559 1758-1567 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2018 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.3184/175815617x15103217178364 2022-09-21T19:51:07Z Long-eared Owls (Asio otus) usually winter in groups in settlements, hunt at night and rest in evergreen trees during the day. From prey remnants regurgitated as pellets, one can detect species present in their hunting areas and changes in their abundance. Our aim was to reveal how the ratio of small mammal species in Long-eared Owl prey changes during the winter, since weather can influence hunting success and the availability of prey. There were 40–60 Long-eared Owls wintering in the city of Pécs. From November 2014 to mid-March 2015 we collected 6,328 pellets from which 9,087 prey remains were identified. 97.5% of prey consisted of small mammals belonging to 21 species. The diversity of small mammals in the pellets collected in November was significantly lower in comparison with other months. With the increase of precipitation, the relative abundance of the Common Vole (Microtus arvalis) and Common Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) decreased, while that of the Striped Field Mouse (Apodemus agrarius) and Wood Mouse (A. sylvaticus) increased. In the periods when the area was covered by snow, the ratio of the Common Vole as prey continually decreased, probably because it stayed under the snow. Since the availability of the Common Vole declined, the proportions of the Striped Field Mouse and Lesser White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura suaveolens) as alternative prey grew significantly. In low temperature periods, Brown Rats (Rattus norvegicus) and birds are more often preyed upon. Despite the hunting area being predominantly urban, species preferring open grassland habitats were significantly more common. As winter progressed, the role of forest-dwelling species in the diet continuously increased. Article in Journal/Newspaper Common vole Microtus arvalis SAGE Publications (via Crossref) Avian Biology Research 11 1 1 6 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
SAGE Publications (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crsagepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Szép, Dávid Bocz, Renáta Purger, Jenő J. Weather-Dependent Variation in the Winter Diet of Urban Roosting Long-Eared Owls Asio Otus in Pécs (Hungary) |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Long-eared Owls (Asio otus) usually winter in groups in settlements, hunt at night and rest in evergreen trees during the day. From prey remnants regurgitated as pellets, one can detect species present in their hunting areas and changes in their abundance. Our aim was to reveal how the ratio of small mammal species in Long-eared Owl prey changes during the winter, since weather can influence hunting success and the availability of prey. There were 40–60 Long-eared Owls wintering in the city of Pécs. From November 2014 to mid-March 2015 we collected 6,328 pellets from which 9,087 prey remains were identified. 97.5% of prey consisted of small mammals belonging to 21 species. The diversity of small mammals in the pellets collected in November was significantly lower in comparison with other months. With the increase of precipitation, the relative abundance of the Common Vole (Microtus arvalis) and Common Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) decreased, while that of the Striped Field Mouse (Apodemus agrarius) and Wood Mouse (A. sylvaticus) increased. In the periods when the area was covered by snow, the ratio of the Common Vole as prey continually decreased, probably because it stayed under the snow. Since the availability of the Common Vole declined, the proportions of the Striped Field Mouse and Lesser White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura suaveolens) as alternative prey grew significantly. In low temperature periods, Brown Rats (Rattus norvegicus) and birds are more often preyed upon. Despite the hunting area being predominantly urban, species preferring open grassland habitats were significantly more common. As winter progressed, the role of forest-dwelling species in the diet continuously increased. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Szép, Dávid Bocz, Renáta Purger, Jenő J. |
author_facet |
Szép, Dávid Bocz, Renáta Purger, Jenő J. |
author_sort |
Szép, Dávid |
title |
Weather-Dependent Variation in the Winter Diet of Urban Roosting Long-Eared Owls Asio Otus in Pécs (Hungary) |
title_short |
Weather-Dependent Variation in the Winter Diet of Urban Roosting Long-Eared Owls Asio Otus in Pécs (Hungary) |
title_full |
Weather-Dependent Variation in the Winter Diet of Urban Roosting Long-Eared Owls Asio Otus in Pécs (Hungary) |
title_fullStr |
Weather-Dependent Variation in the Winter Diet of Urban Roosting Long-Eared Owls Asio Otus in Pécs (Hungary) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Weather-Dependent Variation in the Winter Diet of Urban Roosting Long-Eared Owls Asio Otus in Pécs (Hungary) |
title_sort |
weather-dependent variation in the winter diet of urban roosting long-eared owls asio otus in pécs (hungary) |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3184/175815617x15103217178364 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3184/175815617X15103217178364 |
genre |
Common vole Microtus arvalis |
genre_facet |
Common vole Microtus arvalis |
op_source |
Avian Biology Research volume 11, issue 1, page 1-6 ISSN 1758-1559 1758-1567 |
op_rights |
http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3184/175815617x15103217178364 |
container_title |
Avian Biology Research |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
6 |
_version_ |
1766391904605306880 |