HIGH FREQUENCY OF BATS IN THE DIET OF THE BARN OWL TYTO ALBA IN A LOWLAND DRY FOREST IN TOLIMA, COLOMBIA

Abstract

The cosmopolitan distribution of the Barn Owl Tyto alba and its relatively well documented diet through the study of pellets have provided evidence of the broad diversity of prey it relies on. In most studies, both in tropical and temperate regions, rodents are its main prey, with other small mammals and vertebrates, and insects complementing its diet. Although bats have been recorded in the diet of T. alba at many localities, they seldom represent an important part of its diet. This study describes the diet of a small colony of T. alba from a mosaic of agricultural fields, pastures for cattle ranching and tropical dry forests in Tolima, central Colombia. Overall, we collected 516 pellets between 2016 and 2017 in a non-systematic manner, and recovered 335 skulls of rodents (67%), bats (29%), birds (3%) and shrews (1%), as well as invertebrate prey. The large proportion of bats in the diet of T. alba in this study is only matched by a few other studies, and further documents the wide range of prey included in the diet of this nocturnal raptor. This is one of the first studies on the diet of T. alba in tropical dry forests in Colombia and complements the existing data on its diet in the American tropics and worldwide.