THE BARN OWLS OF PAKISTAN

We studied the feeding and breeding ecology of the
barn owl (Tyto alba setertens) in the agroecosystems
of eight districts of Pakistan. The owl nested away
from the human habitation and depended mainly on old
trees which were often located within the premises
of Canal Rest Houses. The analysis of the 2360
regurgitated pelleted revealed that the house shrew
(suncus murinus) dominated all diet samples (65.5%)
in Punajb. The rats and mice (28%), birds (4.2%),
and bats (2.0%) were also consumed in central
Punjab. shrews (59%), birds(19%), rats and mice
(13%) and insects (7%) were the main prey in
southern Punjab, whereas rats and mice (93%), shrews
(4%), amphibians and reptiles (3%) were the main
prey in southeastern Baluchistan. The house shrew
was the most common item in winter (78%) and was
consumed the least during summer (27%). Egg-laying
was observed between second week of August and
October (n = 23) with a smaller number of nests (n =
5) recoreded in May-July. The mean clutch size
averaged 5.83 eggs (SE = 0.47; range 1-12; N = 23)
and brood size averaged 4.15 nestlings (SE = 0.28;
range = 2-5; N = 20)

Auteur

I became interested in studying bats in 2004 when I failed to find the name of any bat biologist from Pakistan in the CAMP Workshop report on Chiroptera of the South Asia in 2003. With the help of Sally Walker, I was able to meet Prof. Dr. Paul A. Racey at Nepal in 2006 who refined the the first bat project on bats of Pakistan.

Texte du rabat

We studied the feeding and breeding ecology of the barn owl (Tyto alba setertens) in the agroecosystems of eight districts of Pakistan. The owl nested away from the human habitation and depended mainly on old trees which were often located within the premises of Canal Rest Houses. The analysis of the 2360 regurgitated pelleted revealed that the house shrew (suncus murinus) dominated all diet samples (65.5%) in Punajb. The rats and mice (28%), birds (4.2%), and bats (2.0%) were also consumed in central Punjab. shrews (59%), birds(19%), rats and mice (13%) and insects (7%) were the main prey in southern Punjab, whereas rats and mice (93%), shrews(4%), amphibians and reptiles (3%) were the main prey in southeastern Baluchistan. The house shrew was the most common item in winter (78%) and was consumed the least during summer (27%). Egg-laying was observed between second week of August and October (n = 23) with a smaller number of nests (n = 5) recoreded in May-July. The mean clutch size averaged 5.83 eggs (SE = 0.47; range 1-12; N = 23) and brood size averaged 4.15 nestlings (SE = 0.28; range = 2-5; N = 20)