THE DIET OF BARN OWL (Tyto alba) FROM CANAL BANK, CANAL REST HOUSE AND GRAVEYARD OF GOJRA

Abstract

The present study was carried out for a period of 10 months extending from September 1999 through June 2000 to know about the food habits of barn owl (Tyto alba). During this study, 603 pellets were collected from three localities viz., canal bank, canal rest house and graveyard of Gojra. The analysis of these pellets revealed that major components of the diet of the owl were hairs and bones of small mammals. The feathers and bones of birds were also present to some extent. The small mammals identified from their skulls lower jaws and hair constituted 98.47% while birds (in the form of beaks, feathers or bones) were only 1.52% of the diet. Shrews (Suncus murinus) were the dominant food item among the small mammals eaten by the owl constituting 63.00% of the diet followed by rats and mice, which were 35.47% of the diet. Among rats and mice the relative abundance of Rattus rattus was 8.40%, of Millardia meltada was 6.26%, of Nesokia indica was 3.05% and of Tatera indica was 1.22%.