Nesting success and prey selection of long-eared owls along a juniper/sagebrush ecotone in southcentral Idaho

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Authors:

Thurow, Thomas L.; White, Clayton M.

Source:

Murrelet, Pacific Northwest Bird and Mammal Society, Volume 65, Issue 1, p.10-14 (1984)

Call Number:

A84THU02IDUS

Keywords:

Asio otus, Perognathus parvus, Peromyscus maniculatus

Abstract:

A population of Long-eared Owls (Asio otus) nesting in a juniper/sagebrush ecotone had an average density of one pair per 0.65 km² and fledged an average of 3.7 young per nest. All 24 nests were built by corvids and were located in juniper trees. Mammals comprised 95.2% of 1000 prey remains collected. The proportion of Heteromyidae and Cricetidae taken as prey by Long-eared Owls was significantly different (χ² = 27.2, 3 df, p < 0.005) from the small mammal composition of the area. Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and pocket mice (Perognathus parvus) occurred in the same relative frequencies in pellets and in trapping studies, while kangaroo rats occurred twice as often in pellets as in traps and harvest mice occurred less than half as frequently in pellets as in traps.

Notes:

Reference Code: A84THU02IDUS

Full Citation: Thurow, T. L., and C. M. White. 1984. Nesting success and prey selection of long-eared owls along a juniper/sagebrush ecotone in southcentral Idaho. Murrelet 65(1): 10-14.

Location: ANIMAL EF: MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS