<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Long-eared owls’ winter roosts located within forest, compared to their winter roosts in human settlements, often escape human attention. Only minimum information has been published about winter roosts located deep in the forest. During the years 2005 to 2016, we collected long-eared owl pellets at irregularly occupied forest winter roosts. Compared to the diet at winter roosts in human settlements, the long-eared owls roosting in the forest surprisingly significantly more frequently hunted the common vole. Moreover, we did not record higher consumption of forest mammal species in the diet of owls at forest winter roosts. Long-eared owls roosting in human settlements hunted significantly more birds. The results show that, despite the location of deep forest winter roosts, long-eared owls preferred hunting the common vole, i.e. hunting in open agricultural land. The study also points out the lack of knowledge about winter roosts located deep in the forest.</p></abstract>

Long-eared owls’ winter roosts located within forest, compared to their winter roosts in human settlements, often escape human attention. Only minimum information has been published about winter roosts located deep in the forest. During the years 2005 to 2016, we collected long-eared owl pellets at irregularly occupied forest winter roosts. Compared to the diet at winter roosts in human settlements, the long-eared owls roosting in the forest surprisingly significantly more frequently hunted the common vole. Moreover, we did not record higher consumption of forest mammal species in the diet of owls at forest winter roosts. Long-eared owls roosting in human settlements hunted significantly more birds. The results show that, despite the location of deep forest winter roosts, long-eared owls preferred hunting the common vole, i.e. hunting in open agricultural land. The study also points out the lack of knowledge about winter roosts located deep in the forest.

Long-eared owls roosted in the forest, still hunted in open land

Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences

Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra

Raptor Journal

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

{"article-title":"Long-eared owls roosted in the forest, still hunted in open land"}

Long-eared owls’ winter roosts located within forest, compared to their winter roosts in human settlements, often escape human attention. Only minimum...

Long-eared owls roosted in the forest, still hunted in open land

Published Online: Feb 20, 2020

Page range: 105 - 119

Received: Jan 30, 2019

Accepted: Jul 19, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/srj-2019-0003

Keywords
pellets, diet, winter roost, forest

© 2019 Filip Tulis et al., published by Sciendo

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

Long-eared owls roosted in the forest, still hunted in open land

Published Online: Feb 20, 2020

Page range: 105 - 119

Received: Jan 30, 2019

Accepted: Jul 19, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/srj-2019-0003

Keywordspellets, diet, winter roost, forest

© 2019 Filip Tulis et al., published by Sciendo

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

Keywords
pellets, diet, winter roost, forest