Little owls (Athene noctua) shift their diet towards nocturnal beetles in an arid North African area

Urban life is associated with dietary shifts in opportunistic predators, such as raptors. This is presumably true in food‐poor environments, such as drylands. We investigated this issue in little owls (Athene noctua) inhabiting an arid southern Tunisian area. Using pellet data, we found that coleopt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:African journal of ecology 2024-02, Vol.62 (2), p.n/a
Main Authors: Saada, Intissar, Hammouda, Abdessalem, Romanowski, Jerzy, Selmi, Slaheddine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arid lands
Arid zones
Aridity
Athene noctua
Catchability
Coleoptera
Diet
Food
habitats
Nocturnal
Predation
Predators
Rural areas
Rural environments
Strigiformes
Urban areas
Urban environments
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Summary:Urban life is associated with dietary shifts in opportunistic predators, such as raptors. This is presumably true in food‐poor environments, such as drylands. We investigated this issue in little owls (Athene noctua) inhabiting an arid southern Tunisian area. Using pellet data, we found that coleopterans accounted for 69% of ingested food items. Controlling for prey availability, this coleopteran‐based diet was more notable in the urban environment compared to rural areas. We suggest that habitat conditions in the urban areas have increased the catchability of nocturnal coleopterans which were then more exposed to predation by little owls than in rural areas. Résumé La vie urbaine est associée à des changements de régime alimentaire chez les prédateurs opportunistes, tels que les rapaces. Cela est probablement vrai dans les environnements pauvres en nourriture, tels que les zones arides. Nous avons étudié cette question chez des chouettes chevêches (Athene noctua) vivant dans une zone aride du sud de la Tunisie. En utilisant les données des boulettes, nous avons constaté que les coléoptères représentaient 69% des aliments ingérés. Si l’on tient compte de la disponibilité des proies, ce régime alimentaire à base de coléoptères était plus important en milieu urbain qu’en milieu rural. Nous suggérons que les conditions d’habitat dans les zones urbaines ont augmenté la capture des coléoptères nocturnes qui étaient alors plus exposés à la prédation par les chouettes chevêches que dans les zones rurales.
ISSN:0141-6707
1365-2028
DOI:10.1111/aje.13270