Resumen

VARGAS, Rocío; ABELLA, Juan; GREGORI, María  y  BRITO, Jorge. Analysis of pellets of the Striped Owl, Asio clamator, (Aves: Strigiformes) in Atahualpa, Santa Elena province, Ecuador. Huitzil [online]. 2021, vol.22, n.2, e625.  Epub 24-Oct-2022. ISSN 1870-7459.  https://doi.org/10.28947/hrmo.2021.22.2.551.

The Striped Owl, Asio clamator, is a Neotropical Strigiform bird distributed from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. However, most knowledge of the species’ diet comes from the southern Amazon region of its distribution, while almost no information exists on its diet in Ecuador. The present study describes the contents of 72 pellets collected from an individual of the Striped Owl in the dry environment of the province of Santa Elena, Ecuador, during the dry season of 2015 and wet season of 2016. We registered a total of 1145 prey items corresponding to 11 taxa, with a high average number of 8.2 prey individuals per pellet. We found a significant association of prey in the diet by season, with greater consumption of mammals and reptiles during the dry season, and of insects in the wet season. The differences in diet of the Striped Owl found in our study highlight the importance of developing diet studies in other habitats and areas of distribution, which would help to understand the owl’s interactions and its influence on the environment.

Palabras llave : Diet; pellets; prey frequency and biomass; Pseudoscops clamator; seasonal variation.

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