INVESTIGADORES
FORMOSO Anahi Elizabeth
artículos
Título:
Food habits of the Magellanic Horned Owl at southernmost Patagonia, Argentina
Autor/es:
FORMOSO ANAHÍ E.; TETA PABLO; CHELI GERMÁN
Revista:
JOURNAL OF RAPTOR RESEARCH
Editorial:
RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC
Referencias:
Lugar: Lawrence, Kansas; Año: 2012 vol. 46 p. 401 - 406
ISSN:
0892-1016
Resumen:
The Magellanic Horned Owl (Bubo magellanicus) is the largest representative of the family Strigidae in southern South America. Several studies on its diet were carried out along its distributional range, although at the Argentinean Patagonia most of the available studies were performed north of 48º S. In this study we characterize the Magellanic Horned Owl´s diet in austral Patagonia (46°S to 52°S, Argentina) and compare it with those findings previously reported. Our results showed that, in terms of frequency, the diet was principally based on small mammals (52.1%) and arthropods (46.4%). The most common small mammals consumed include Abrothrix olivacea, Eligmodontia morgani and Reithrodon auritus. Preys that contributed the most to the biomass were: lagomorphs, Reithrodon auritus, Euneomys chinchilloides and Eligmodontia morgani. Despite low frequencies of lagomorphs, they represented most of the biomass consumed by the owls and were present in most samples. This issue reveals that lagomorph consumption by Magellanic Horned Owls is much more complex than previously envisioned. Consumption of arthropods can be considered occasional, since only three of the nine studied localities retrieved arthropods remains, which contributed very little to the biomass but were represented with higher frequencies. The standardized food niche breadth as well as mean weight of the consumed preys were similar to those found in previous works. Our study showed that these owls in austral Patagonia mostly preyed upon rodents, hares, birds and insects.