干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) has been widely studied in terms of food habits, both in Argentina and in the rest of South America, especially in disturbed environments and agricultural ecosystems. However, there are few studies conducted on populations in high-altitude areas of northwestern Argentina. This work contributes to the knowledge about the food habits and their seasonal variation of A. cunicularia in areas close to high-altitude wetlands. The study was carried out based on the analysis of 613 pellets and 135 almost complete remains of amphibians, collected over a year between April 2013 and March 2014 near the La Angostura reservoir, Tafi del Valle, Tucuman, Argentina. We identified 28 prey items (10 small mammals, one birds, one amphibian, and 16 arthropods), represented by 14,791 individuals. The most consumed group were insects, represented mostly by the orders Hymenoptera (50.4%) and Coleoptera (41.1%). Mammals were represented by 1.9% of the consumed individuals, while the amphibians represented only 0.9%. The least abundant group consumed were birds, with only 0.03%. The standardized trophic niche-breath was lower during the summer (0.02) and higher in spring (0.23). Our results coincide with the general characterization of this species, considered as opportunist-generalist that includes in its diet a wide variety of items. The results are also consistent with those reported by other authors for different ecosystems, which have also shown a marked seasonal variability in the diet of this owl.