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Diet composition of the Pharaoh Eagle Owl, Bubo ascalaphus (Strigiformes, Strigidae) in a Steppe region of Algeria Cover

Diet composition of the Pharaoh Eagle Owl, Bubo ascalaphus (Strigiformes, Strigidae) in a Steppe region of Algeria

Open Access
|Nov 2021

Abstract

The diet composition of Pharaoh Eagle Owl (Bubo ascalaphus) was investigated in a semiarid area of North-western Algeria. A total of 65 pellets regurgitated by the B. ascalaphus were analysed, 288 food items were composed primarily of mammal remains (4 rodents, 1 bat and insectivore, 93.7%), and 1 bird species (passerine, 6.3%). The most frequent prey among the mammals were rodents (83.3%), which included Mus musculus (59.7%), Meriones shawi (11.1%), Meriones libycus (11.1%) and Jaculus jaculus (1.4%). The rodents were the most important prey items in biomass (91.4%), M. shawi made up to 41.9% of the total biomass. We may conclude that the Pharaoh Eagle Owl relies, in its feeding, very broadly on small mammals, completed by other groups.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/orhu-2021-0028 | Journal eISSN: 2061-9588 | Journal ISSN: 1215-1610
Language: English
Page range: 177 - 182
Submitted on: Aug 30, 2021
Accepted on: Sep 13, 2021
Published on: Nov 29, 2021
Published by: MME/BirdLife Hungary
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

© 2021 Naceur Benamor, Toufik Guetouache, Farid Bounaceur, published by MME/BirdLife Hungary
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.