<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Little was known about the small mammal fauna of the Marcal Basin to date, therefore we collected 1,144 Barn Owl pellets from 15 locations in 2017. After the analysis of the pellets, remnants of 3,063 prey items were identified, of which 97.5% were small mammals, belonging to 21 species, while the remaining 2.5% were birds, frogs and insects. Mammal prey items consisted of Cricetidae 41%, Muridae 31% and Soricidae 28%, and in some samples, we found the remnants of European Mole <italic>(Talpa europaea)</italic>, Kuhl’s Pipistrelle <italic>(Pipistrellus kuhlii)</italic>, Hazel Dormouse <italic>(Muscardinus avellanarius)</italic> and Least Weasel <italic>(Mustela nivalis)</italic>. Small mammal species were classified into four functional groups based on their preferences for urban, open, forest or wetland habitats. We investigated whether their relative abundances match with the proportions of the four habitat types in the assumed Barn Owl hunting ranges (cca. 2 km radius circle) in five sample sites. The relative abundance of small mammal species preferring urban habitats showed concordance with the proportion of the appropriate habitat types in the hunting area in two samples, while such concordance was proved for species favouring open, forest and wetland habitats just in one out of five samples. Small mammal functional groups represented in the prey composition do not directly correspond to the proportion of their typical habitats. We conclude that the abundance of various prey types is not suitable for characterising the landscape within the Barn Owl’s hunting range.</p></abstract>

Little was known about the small mammal fauna of the Marcal Basin to date, therefore we collected 1,144 Barn Owl pellets from 15 locations in 2017. After the analysis of the pellets, remnants of 3,063 prey items were identified, of which 97.5% were small mammals, belonging to 21 species, while the remaining 2.5% were birds, frogs and insects. Mammal prey items consisted of Cricetidae 41%, Muridae 31% and Soricidae 28%, and in some samples, we found the remnants of European Mole (Talpa europaea), Kuhl’s Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus kuhlii), Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) and Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis). Small mammal species were classified into four functional groups based on their preferences for urban, open, forest or wetland habitats. We investigated whether their relative abundances match with the proportions of the four habitat types in the assumed Barn Owl hunting ranges (cca. 2 km radius circle) in five sample sites. The relative abundance of small mammal species preferring urban habitats showed concordance with the proportion of the appropriate habitat types in the hunting area in two samples, while such concordance was proved for species favouring open, forest and wetland habitats just in one out of five samples. Small mammal functional groups represented in the prey composition do not directly correspond to the proportion of their typical habitats. We conclude that the abundance of various prey types is not suitable for characterising the landscape within the Barn Owl’s hunting range.

Investigating the relationship between the prey composition of Barn Owls <italic>(Tyto alba)</italic> and the habitat structure of their hunting range in the Marcal Basin (Hungary), based on pellet analysis

Department of Ecology, Institute of Biology

Ornis Hungarica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Investigating the relationship between the prey composition of Barn Owls  and the habitat structure of their hunting range in the Marcal Basin (Hungary), based on pellet analysis

Little was known about the small mammal fauna of the Marcal Basin to date, therefore we collected 1,144 Barn Owl pellets from 15 locations in 2017. After the...

Investigating the relationship between the prey composition of Barn Owls (Tyto alba) and the habitat structure of their hunting range in the Marcal Basin (Hungary), based on pellet analysis

Published Online: Jul 27, 2019

Page range: 32 - 43

Received: Mar 11, 2019

Accepted: Apr 30, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/orhu-2019-0002

Keywords
pellets, small mammals, habitat preference, landscape structure

© 2019 Dávid Szép et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Investigating the relationship between the prey composition of Barn Owls (Tyto alba) and the habitat structure of their hunting range in the Marcal Basin (Hungary), based on pellet analysis

Published Online: Jul 27, 2019

Page range: 32 - 43

Received: Mar 11, 2019

Accepted: Apr 30, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/orhu-2019-0002

Keywordspellets, small mammals, habitat preference, landscape structure

© 2019 Dávid Szép et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
pellets, small mammals, habitat preference, landscape structure