USE OF ARTIFICIAL BURROWS BY Athene cunicularia IN THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES

PEREIRA, EMANUEL; FRACAS, PABLO ANDRÉS; ROCCATAGLIATA, DANIEL; BORSELLINO, LAURA; GÓMEZ, RAÚL

Puerto Iguazú

Congreso; Ornithological Congress of Americas; 2017

Aves Argentinas, AFO, SBO

The burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) is a species of the family Strigidae that often breeds in caves made by burrowing animals or by itself. It lives in colonies, is usually monogamous, present a high philopatry rate and has lately started to colonize urban areas. In this study, we constantly followed a resident pair at Parque Sarmiento (CABA, 34°33?26??S, 58°29?57??W), that instantly occupied an artificial burrow installed in April 2015. During two years (2015-2017) the nest was visited at least twice per week to register number of individuals, reproductive events and during 2016 pellets were also collected (n = 299). Two reproductive events were observed each summer: three were successful and one failed, with a total of 6 successful chicks per year. During the second summer, both breeding events were successful, something scarcely registered for this species. Pellet analysis showed that the main prey item were anuran amphibians (total consumed biomass: >90%) and several species of arthropods (absolute frequency: >60%). Our results suggest that installation of artificial burrows in the parks of this city can replace the lack of natural burrows. In addition, recommendations are presented for the protection of nesting sites in urban environment.