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Change in the diet of sooty owls (Tyto tenebricosa) since European settlement: from terrestrial to arboreal prey and increased overlap with powerful owls
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posted on 2006-01-01, 00:00 authored by Rohan Bilney, Raylene CookeRaylene Cooke, John WhiteJohn WhiteThe current diet of the sooty owl (Tyto tenebricosa) was determined by analysing freshly regurgitated pellets collected beneath their roosting sites in East Gippsland, Victoria. Comparisons were then made with: (i) prehistoric and historic diet from bone deposits found in cave roosts, and (ii) diet of a sympatric owl species, the powerful owl (Ninox strenua). Sooty owls consumed a large array of terrestrial mammal species before European settlement, but only three terrestrial species were detected in their current diet, a reduction of at least eight species since European settlement. To compensate, sooty owls have increased their consumption of arboreal prey from 55% to 81% of their diet. Arboreal species are also a major component of the powerful owl diet and this prey shift by sooty owls has increased dietary overlap between these two species. Predation by foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and other feral species is likely to have reduced the amount of terrestrial prey available to sooty owls since European settlement. Investigation of changes in the diet of sooty owls may offer a unique monitoring system for evaluating the ability of fox-control strategies to influence increases in numbers of critical-weight-range mammals.
History
Journal
Wildlife researchVolume
33Issue
1Pagination
17 - 24Publisher
CSIRO Publishing with the cooperation of the Australian Academy of ScienceLocation
East Melbourne, Vic.Publisher DOI
ISSN
1035-3712eISSN
1448-5494Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
Reproduced with the specific permission of the copyright owner.Usage metrics
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