Diet of the Short-Eared Owl (Asio flammeus) in the Antisana highlands, Ecuador

Abstract

The knowledge of the diet of a species is an important element to understand its natural history and ecology, the information about Ecuadorian owls’ diet increases progressively. We analyzed n = 163 pellets of the short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) collected in the Antisana highlands, north of Ecuador. We found 242 preys of six taxa; the paramo rabbit Sylvilagus andinus was the most important prey in terms of frequency (46%) and biomass contribution (78%). The diet of the owl in the Antisana highlands has low diversity, it could be related to individual specialization or the low availability of prey on the 4000 m; the mammals as preys dominated in frequency and biomass like previous studies.

Keywords

• cricetidae
• mammals
• pellets
• prey
• sylvilagus andinus.