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Study of Tawny Owl Strix aluco (Linnaeus 1758) diet from pellet samples collected in Serbia during 2003 and 2004

Tatjana Jovanovic-Grove MSc, Marko Šćiban, Milan Ružić. 2008-04-07

Summary

The diet of the Tawny Owl Strix aluco, Linnaeus 1758, was studied via pellet analysis from 3 localities: Zvezdara (Belgrade), and the caves of Potpeć and Petnica. A wide diversity of small mammals were found in both samples, with a total amount of 387 prey items belonging to Vertebrates, as well as an undetermined number of Invertebrates, belonging to orders of Lumbriculidae (Annelida, Oligochaeta), Coleoptera and Odonata (Arthropoda, Insecta). The most abundant among prey items were rodent species, especially mice and dormice. Voles, bats, shrews and moles were also present in the pellets. In total there were 20 mammal species identified. The variety of prey items in all samples indicates the Tawny Owl is an opportunist in it's diet as well as a good indicator of small mammal's distribution in woodland ecosystems.
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