Wagner Hermann, Cruz Sebastian, Jiménez-Uzcátegui Gustavo, Albán Katherine, Quezada Galo, Piedrahita Paolo
Institute of Biology II, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 3, D-52074 Aachen, Germany.
American Bird Conservancy, Puerto Ayora 200102, Ecuador.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Aug 5;15(15):2283. doi: 10.3390/ani15152283.
We studied Galápagos barn owls on Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos Archipelago. We collected and analyzed pellets to determine diet composition. Barn-owl diet consisted-in terms of biomass-of ~89% rodents and ~10% insects. Bird remains occurred in 1% of the pellets. Foraging was studied with data loggers, a method not previously applied to the study of Galápagos barn owls. Owls rested during the day in natural and human-built roosts such as lava holes, trees, or huts. Night-time foraging was characterized by periods during which the bird moved and periods during which the bird stayed within one place, with the latter amounting to ~56% of the time away from the day roost. Birds began foraging shortly after sunset and returned to their day roost before sunrise. The duration of foraging was approximately 11 h per night. Foraging areas were small (median value: 0.28 km). Although our data demonstrate a continued presence of the subspecies, we regard the situation for this subspecies as labile, as multiple threats, such as road kills, poisoning, and intentional killing by farmers, have increased recently, and suggest the development of a management plan to improve its conservation.
我们对加拉帕戈斯群岛圣克鲁斯岛上的加拉帕戈斯仓鸮进行了研究。我们收集并分析了食丸以确定饮食组成。就生物量而言，仓鸮的食物约89%为啮齿动物，约10%为昆虫。鸟类残骸出现在1%的食丸中。我们使用数据记录器对觅食行为进行了研究，这种方法此前未应用于加拉帕戈斯仓鸮的研究。仓鸮白天在天然和人造栖息处休息，如熔岩洞、树木或小屋。夜间觅食的特点是有鸟类移动的时段和鸟类停留在一个地方的时段，后者占离开日间栖息处时间的约56%。鸟类日落后不久开始觅食，日出前返回日间栖息处。每晚觅食时长约为11小时。觅食区域较小（中位数：0.28千米）。尽管我们的数据表明该亚种持续存在，但我们认为该亚种的情况不稳定，因为诸如被车辆撞死、中毒以及被农民故意捕杀等多种威胁近来有所增加，并建议制定一项管理计划以加强其保护。
