Spatial Variation of Eurasian Eagle-Owl Diets in Wetland and Non-Wetland Habitats in West-Central Korea
2013
Shin, Dong-Man | Yoo, Jeong-Chil | Jeong, Da-Mi
The diet of the Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo) was studied in two different land-cover types: wetlands and non-wetlands. We analyzed 1458 prey items obtained from 924 pellets and 534 prey remains collected in 34 territories in west-central Korea. Diet composition differed significantly between the two habitats: diet was mainly birds (68.9% by number; 85.3% by biomass) in wetlands, but was dominated by mammals (38.7% by number; 64.7% by biomass) in non-wetlands. At the species level, ducks such as Eastern Spot-billed Ducks (Anas zonorhyncha) and Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) made up 38.1% by biomass in wetlands, whereas brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) were the most abundant prey by number and biomass in non-wetlands. The mean weight of prey: (a) was greater in wetlands than in non-wetlands; (b) was positively related to the density of wetlands in the study area and (c) negatively related to both the percentage of agricultural land and the density of human settlements. The diet of Eurasian Eagle-Owls apparently reflects the differential abundance of local food resources. The values of diet diversity (H′) and standardized food-niche breadth (Bₛₜ) were relatively high in wetland habitats.
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