JOURNAL ARTICLE

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

  • Published In: African Journal of Ecology, 2024, v. 62, n. 2. P. 1 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Saada, Intissar; Hammouda, Abdessalem; Romanowski, Jerzy; Selmi, Slaheddine 3 of 3

Abstract

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:African Journal of Ecology. 2024/02, Vol. 62, Issue 2, p1
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Science
  • Publication Date:2024
  • ISSN:0141-6707
  • DOI:10.1111/aje.13270
  • Accession Number:177585532
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of African Journal of Ecology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Looking to go deeper into this topic? Look for more articles on EBSCOhost.