Journal of
Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2018 | 10(6):
11717–11724
Analysis of regurgitated pellets of Spotted Owlet Athenebrama (Temminck, 1821) (Aves: Strigiformes:Strigidae) from Punjab, India
Renuka Malhotra 1 & Neena Singla 2
1,2 Department of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural
University, Ferozepur Road, Ludhiana,
Punjab 141004, India
1 r.malhotra1491@gmail.com, 2 neenasingla1@gmail.com
(corresponding author)
Abstract: The present study was conducted to
determine the diet of Spotted Owlet Athene brama. Analysis of 200 regurgitated pellets collected from eight different
locations in Punjab (India) determined average weight, length, breadth and
thickness to be 1.0g, 27.0mm, 16.0mm and 12.0mm, respectively. Remains of a total 433 individual prey
were found in these pellets. Diet
of Spotted Owlet consisted of both vertebrates (45.7%) and invertebrates
(54.3%). Among vertebrates, mice
(45.0%) were predominant, followed by frogs (0.5%) and birds (0.2%). Among
invertebrates, diet mainly consisted of insects (53.8%) followed by molluscs
(0.5%). Insects preyed upon by
Spotted Owlet were predominantly of orders Coleoptera(34.9%), followed by Orthoptera (10.2%), Dermaptera (7.9%) and some unidentified orders (0.9%). The remnants of insects and molluscs in
the pellets comprised of wings, legs, head, shells etc. The average number of mice consumed per
pellet was 1.32, with a maximum capacity of consuming up to five mice per night.
Keywords: Athene brama, insects, mice, pellet analysis,
Punjab.
doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4020.10.6.11717-11724 | ZooBank:urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DFBA5345-D659-4520-91D0-BECD689F2668
Editor: P. Neelanarayanan, Nehru Memorial College, Tiruchchirappalli,
India. Date
of publication: 26 May 2018 (online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms# 4020 | Received 21 January 2018 | Final received 07 March 2018 | Finally
accepted 15 May 2018
Citation: Malhotra, R. & N. Singla (2018). Analysis of regurgitated pellets of
Spotted Owlet Athene brama(Temminck, 1821) (Aves: Strigiformes:Strigidae) from Punjab, India. Journal
of Threatened Taxa 10(6): 11717–11724; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4020.10.6.11717-11724
Copyright: © Malhotra & Singla 2018. Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTTallows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and
distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Funding: Punjab Agricultural
University, Ludhiana, Punjab and Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New
Delhi.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Author
Details: Ms. Renuka Malhotracompleted her Master’s Programme from Department of
Zoology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, Punjaband has recently joined as Assistant Professor, KhalsaCollege for Women, Ludhiana, Punjab. Dr. Neena Singla is serving as
Senior Zoologist (Rodents) in the Department of Zoology, PAU, Ludhiana, Punjab. She has more than 20 years experience in research,
teaching and Extension. She is Project Incharge, All
India Network Project on Vertebrate Pest Management (Rodent Control) at PAU,
Ludhiana. Her major emphasis is on development of alternative, safe and
environment friendly techniques for integrated rodent pest management.
Author
Contribution: RM performed
experiment, analysed data and wrote manuscript. NS contributed to planning of
experiment, supervised development of work, interpreted data and corrected
manuscript.
Acknowledgements: Authors are thankful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New
Delhi for providing financial assistance, and professor & head, Department
of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana for providing other
necessary facilities.
INTRODUCTION
Among
the various species found in northern India, the Spotted Owlet Athene brama (Temminck, 1821) is the most com-monsmall-sized owl. It has adapted to
varied environments such as parks, groves, agricultural fields, abandoned
buildings in garden and villages, towns and crowded cities, and any open area
with trees substantial enough to provide adequate roosts (Sridhara1981; Ali & Ripley 1987). It
roosts in small groups in hollows of trees or branches or in cavities of rocks
or buildings. It is nocturnal and
generally crepuscular, but is sometimes seen in the day. It feeds on diverse prey such as
rodents, small birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates such as insects
and annelids (Pande et al. 2004, 2007).
Owls
generally swallow their prey whole or in large pieces, and the indigestible
parts (hair, bones, exoskeleton, etc.) are regurgitated in the form of a
pellet. The pH of an owl’s stomach
is less acidic than that of many other predatory birds, and hence most of the
bones of ingested prey are left undigested (Smith & Richmond 1972). The skulls and lower jaws of even the
most delicate small mammals and birds are found intact in pellets and can
easily be identified (Taylor 1994).
Owls
are known for their important role in biocontrol of
pests (Pande & Dahanukar2011). Pellet analysis of owls can
provide information on the existence of prey species within the owl’s range,
its capability to take such prey and relative abundance of prey species in the
owl’s diet. Such study is very
important not only for its significance in conservation but also for their
predatory potential, as they are the main predators of insects and non-insect
pests of forestry and agricultural importance. No information is available about their
diet composition from northern India. The present study is the first of its kind from Punjab State of India
recording information on the dietary composition of Spotted Owlet A. brama and its impact on rodent and insect pest
populations around their nesting and roosting sites.
MATERIAL AND
METHODS
Study area and pellets collected
A
survey was carried out in different trees, buildings, electric poles, crop
fields, other perches etc. in the campus area of Punjab Agricultural University
(PAU), Ludhiana and different villages in districts Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib of Punjab (India) during the years
2013–2015 in order to find out the roosting, nesting and perching sites
of the Spotted Owlet. The
regurgitated pellets of Spotted Owlet were collected from eight different sites
(Table 1, Fig. 1).
Table 1. Different locations selected
for study and the number of pellets collected
Location |
Area (GPS location) |
Habitat type |
Total number of pellets collected |
I |
PAU
campus, Ludhiana (30.900N
& 75.810E) |
Trees
near old post-mortem building |
21 |
II |
PAU
campus, Ludhiana |
Trees
near tube well in new orchard area |
32 |
III |
PAU
campus, Ludhiana |
Tree
near Mushroom Farm |
8 |
IV |
PAU
campus, Ludhiana |
Tree
near department of Soil Science |
6 |
V |
Village
Mannewal, district Ludhiana (30.930N
& 76.160E) |
Trees
in crop field area |
39 |
VI |
Village
Bhundri, district Ludhiana (30.940N
& 75.57 0E) |
Trees
in crop field near tube well |
35 |
VII |
Village
Chahar, district Ludhiana (30.900N
& 75.860E) |
Trees
in crop field area near tube well |
35 |
VIII |
Village
Naraingarh, district Fatehgarh Sahib (30.670N
& 76.160E) |
Trees
in crop field area of Naraingarh Seed Farm |
24 |
Pellet analysis
Regurgitated
pellets found at all the eight sites were collected in polythene bags and
brought to the laboratory. In the laboratory, pellets were kept at 600C
in a hot air oven for 24hr to kill the associated insects and any other
infectious agent. These pellets
were then used for analysis. All
the pellets were first weighed on electronic balance and then their
morphometric measurements, i.e., length (mm), breadth (mm) and thickness (mm)
were recorded. To record the diet
composition of the Spotted Owlet, each pellet was first soaked in 8% sodium
hydroxide solution for about two hours as described by Neelanarayananet al. (1998) and Mittal (1997). This solution assisted in easy separation of the osseous remains (skulls
and other bones) and chitinous contents (undigested
insect remains) from other contents like hair, debris etc. The contents were then sieved to
separate all the prey remains from the dust and soil particles. To completely separate the prey remains
from these unwanted components, a number of washings were given. Then the prey remains were put on filter
paper and dried in an oven for 24hr at 600C. After complete drying, the skulls,
bones, feathers, beaks and insect remains were separated out for identification
of prey items (Shehab 2005).
Prey
identification
The identification of different prey items in the diet of Spotted Owlet
was made by using the keys developed by Neelanarayananet al. (1998). Different vertebrate prey items were
identified on the basis of lower jaws, skull, limb bones, and pectoral and pelvic
girdles. Depending upon the number
of skulls or lower jaws or fore and hind limb bones found in each pellet,
number of particular type of prey individual consumed per pellet was
determined. One set of lower jaws
(left and right) or one skull or one pair of fore and hind limb bones were
counted as remains of one prey item. Insect prey items were identified up to order level on the basis of
undigested anatomical pieces such as heads, mandibles, wings, legs, and stings
(Naranthiran 1989; Yalden2003). Different typical structural
features on the basis of which insect remains found in pellets were classified
into different orders are given below:
Coleoptera: thick chitinizedforewings forming hard and opaque elytra
Dermaptera: abdomen bearing strong, movable forceps,
short but heavily chitinized elytra and large hind
wings
Orthoptera: fan shaped hind wings covered with a
network of fine veins, antennae caetaceous or filiform, legs variously modified, e.g., saltatorial (in grasshoppers)
Based
upon the data, percentage of different prey items in the diet of Spotted Owlet
was determined. The mean number of
prey items consumed per pellet was also calculated. From typical skull characteristics of
rodent species (Talmale & Pradhan2009), the individual species of rodents consumed was also identified.
Effect on rodent population
To
study the effect of Spotted Owlets on rodent population around their roosting
and nesting sites, three locations were selected. These were a new orchard area near tube
well in PAU campus, Ludhiana and villages Bhundri andChahar, district Ludhiana. All of these locations
were surrounded by crop fields (wheat, rice, bajra,
mustard, spinach, potato etc.), trees (poplar, eucalyptus, dek,peepal, mulberry, etc.), buildings, houses etc.
Rodent
population in surrounding field crop area was determined by counting the number
of active rodent burrows of different species and food consumption (loose
mixture of cracked wheat, powdered sugar and groundnut oil in ratio 96: 2: 2)
by rodents within a radius of up to 100m, 101–500 m, 501–1,000 m
and 1,001-2,000 m from the roosting and nesting sites. Weighed amount of freshly prepared food
was kept on pieces of paper in the evening hours within each radius and the
remaining food was collected in the morning, brought to the laboratory and
weighed again to determine the percent consumption as
per the formula given below:
Bait
consumed (g)
Percent consumption =
---------------------------------- x 100
Bait
placed (g)
Statistical analysis
The
data on number of rodent burrows and food consumption by rodents at different
radii was analyzed using one-way analysis of
variance.
RESULTS AND
DISCUSSION
Diet composition of Spotted Owlet
A total
of 200 Spotted Owlet pellets were collected from all the eight locations (Table
1). The pellets were found to be
dark black or brown in color. The old pellets were pale in color and loosely held. The size of pellets varied from small to
large depending upon the kind and number of prey consumed. The average weight
of a pellet was found to be 1.0±0.5 g with a range of 0.3–3.5g. The morphometric measurements of all the
pellets collected revealed average length of 27.0±6.0 mm (range 12.0–41.0
mm), breadth of 16.0±4.0 mm (range 10.0–33.0 mm) and thickness of
12.0±3.0 cm (range 6.0–20.0 mm). The weights of Spotted Owlet pellets reported in the present study are
similar to those reported in other works (Ali & Santhanakrishnan2012; Nadeem et al. 2012). Hardy (1977) reported that the size of
the pellets depends upon the composition of the diet and the size as well as
the nutritive value of the prey taken.
All the
pellets collected from different locations were found to contain bones and
insect remains. Remains of total 433 prey items were found in 200 pellets. These were of 195 rodents (only mice),
one bird (unidentified), two amphibians (frogs or toads), 151 coleopteran insects,
44 orthopteran insects, 34 dermapteraninsects, four unidentified insects and two unidentified molluscs (Fig. 2). Overall, based on analysis of all the
pellets collected, the diet composition of Spotted Owlet was found to be 45.0%
mice, 0.2% birds and 0.5% amphibians, 34.9% coleopteran insects, 10.2% orthopteran insects, 7.9% dermapteraninsects, 0.9% unidentified insects and 0.5% molluscs (Fig. 3). Vertebrates alone constituted 45.7% and
invertebrates constituted 54.3% of the diet of Spotted Owlet. Among invertebrates, insects alone
constituted 53.8% of the diet.
Per pellet analysis of prey composition revealed on average, remains of
1.3 mice, one bird, one frog, one coleopteran, one orthopteran,
one dermapteran, one unidentified insect and one
mollusc per pellet of the Spotted Owlet. The average number of mice consumed per pellet by Spotted Owlet was 1.32
with maximum capacity of consuming up to five mice per night (Table 2).
The
bones of different vertebrate prey items found in pellets collected from all
the eight locations are given in Fig. 4. Different bones of mice found were that of skull, lower jaws, ear
capsules and other dislocated bones of skull, breast bones, ribs, shoulder
bones, bones of fore limbs, hip bones, bones of hind limbs, hand/foot bones,
patella, vertebrae and some unidentified bones. The bones of mouse collected were also
arranged in the form of full skeleton showing that almost all the types of
bones of mouse were found in pellets (Fig. 5). Only humerus and femur of bird and femur and tibia-fibula of frog were found in the pellets of Spotted Owlet.
From
typical skull characteristics, the rodent species consumed by the Spotted
Owlets was identified to be the Field Mouse Mus booduga (Fig. 6). The average upper molar tooth row of
studied skulls of M. booduga was found to be
3.20mm. The bird and frog found in
the pellets could not be identified up to species level. Different parts of
insects (wings, legs, head, mouthparts etc.) found in pellets of Spotted Owlet
are shown in Fig. 7.
Effect on rodent population
Based
on characteristic burrow entrances, different rodent species at all of the
three locations were found to be the Lesser Bandicoot Rat, Bandicota bengalensis; the Indian Field Mouse Mus booduga;Indian Gerbil Tatera indica,
and the Soft-furred Field Rat Millardia meltada; however, Spotted Owlet was found to consume
only M. booduga.
Live rodent burrow count
Burrow
count of different rodent species at all the three locations is given in Table
3. At new orchard area, PAU campus,
the average burrow count varied from 50.5–73.5 in all the four radii,
being highest at the radius of 1,001–2,000 m. At village Chahar,
district Ludhiana, the average burrow count ranged from 23.5–58.5, being
highest at the radius of 1,001–2,000 m. At village Bhundri,
district Ludhiana, also the average burrow count ranged from 42.0 to 93.5,
being highest at the radius of 1,001–2,000 m. No significant difference in total live
burrow count and that of individual species was found among the four radii at
all the three locations. At all the
three locations, however, the average live burrow count was more in the radius
of 1,001–2,000 m around the roosting and nesting sites indicating that
the maximum forging by Spotted Owlet may be up to 1,000m.
Food consumption
Food
consumption by rodents at all the three locations is given in Table 4. At new orchard area, PAU campus, average
food consumption ranged from 63.2–94.7 g/100g, being highest in the
radius of 1,001–2,000 m. At
village Chahar, district Ludhiana, average food
consumption ranged from 43.4–53.0 g/100g, being highest at the radius of
501–1,000 m. At village Bhundri, district Ludhiana, average food consumption ranged
from 53.7–74.3 g/100g, being highest at the radius of 1,001–2,000
m. No significant difference in
food consumption was found among the four radii at all the three locations.
In the
present study, among rodents, M. booduga was
found to be the major contributor of Spotted Owlet’s diet despite the presence
of burrows of other rodent species in the surrounding area. Other vertebrates that constituted the
diet of Spotted Owlet were frogs and birds. Among invertebrates, the diet mainly
consisted of insects followed by molluscs. Insects preyed upon by Spotted Owlet were predominantly of orders Coleoptera, followed by Orthoptera,Dermaptera and some unidentified orders. Previous studies have reported the diet
of the Spotted Owlet comprising of insects, earthworms, mice, lizards, frogs
and birds (Sandhu 1978; Majumdar1984; Ali & Ripley 1987). In the
present study, however, the remains of earthworms and lizards were not observed
in the pellets of Spotted Owlet. Zade et al. (2011) analyzed 52
pellets of Spotted Owlet in Maharashtra, India and determined the percent relative frequency of occurrence of various food
remains. The study indicated that
insects belonging to the orders Orthoptera(Grasshoppers), Hemiptera (Bugs), Coleoptera(Beetles) and Dermaptera (Earwig) occupied 78.84% of
the diet followed by small mammals (38.46%). The remnants of insects
in the pellets comprised of wings, legs, antennae and head. Ali & Santhanakrishnan(2012) found the diet of the Spotted Owlet comprising mostly of arthropods
(84.9%), i.e., Coleoptera (40.9%) and Orthoptera (32.4%) insects followed by vertebrates (12.1%). In present study, insects alone
constituted 53.8% and small mammals constituted 45% of the diet of Spotted
Owlet.
Paunikar et al. (2015) studied the food habits of the Spotted Owlet in
Tropical Forest Research Institute campus, Jabalpur, India by analyzing their regurgitated pellets and found the remains
of three dung beetle species, Onitis philemon, Onitis virens and Onitisbrahma and five species of small mammals, M. booduga,Vandeleuria oleracea, M. meltada, Suncus etruscus and Suncus murinus. In the present study, however, the diet of Spotted Owlet was found
constituted only of M. booduga among small
mammals, particularly the rodents.
The
presence of remains of only mice among different rodent species found in the
diet of Spotted Owlet in the present study indicates their potential in
regulating mouse populations in crop fields as one of the components in
integrated rodent pest management. Studies may, however, be taken to attract them to the crop fields by
installing artificial nest boxes, T-shaped perches or poles.
Table 2. Mean number of prey items per
pellet of Spotted Owlet at all the eight locations.
Location |
Prey items/pellet (Range) |
Total prey items |
|||||||
Vertebrates |
Invertebrates |
||||||||
Mouse |
Bird |
Frog |
Insects
of different orders |
Molluscs |
|||||
Coleoptera |
Orthoptera |
Dermaptera |
Unidentified |
||||||
I |
1.36 (0–3) |
– |
– |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
– |
2.52
(1–4) |
II |
1.06 (0–2) |
– |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
2.38 (1–5) |
III |
1.16 (0–2) |
– |
– |
1.00 (0–1) |
– |
1.00
(0–1) |
– |
– |
1.75
(1–3) |
IV |
– |
– |
– |
1.00 (1) |
1.00 (1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
– |
– |
2.17
(2–3) |
V |
1.72 (0–4) |
1.00 (0–1) |
– |
1.00 (0–1) |
– |
1.00 (0–1) |
– |
1.00 (0–1) |
2.10
(1–5) |
VI |
1.07 (0–2) |
– |
– |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00
(0–1) |
– |
– |
2.09
(1–4) |
VII |
1.19 (0–2) |
– |
– |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00
(0–1) |
– |
– |
1.97
(1–4) |
VIII |
1.67 (1–5) |
– |
– |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00 (0–1) |
1.00
(0–1) |
– |
– |
2.21
(1–6) |
Overall
|
1.32
(0–5) |
1.00
(0–1) |
1.00
(0–1) |
1.00
(0–1) |
1.00
(0–1) |
1.00
(0–1) |
1.00
(0–1) |
1.00
(0–1) |
2.15
(1–6) |
Table 3. Live rodent burrow count around
roosting and nesting sites of Spotted Owlets.
Location |
Rodent species |
Number of burrows at different radii (Mean±SD) |
|||
Up to 100 m |
101–500 m |
501–1,000 m |
1,001–2,000 m |
||
PAU campus |
B. bengalensis |
22.5± 4.5 |
29.0±4.0 |
31.0±8.0 |
37.0±14.0 |
M. booduga |
20.5 ±3.5 |
13.5 ±5.5 |
20.5±5.5 |
25.5±5.5 |
|
T. indica |
8.5±3.5 |
8.0 ±1.0 |
6.0±0.5 |
6.0±6.0 |
|
Total |
51.5±11.5 |
50.5±10.5 |
58.0±13.0 |
73.5±8.5 |
|
Village Chahar |
B. bengalensis |
11.0±0.0 |
17.0±8.0 |
21.5±9.5 |
34.0±15.0 |
M. booduga |
5.5±1.5 |
4.5±1.5 |
4.0±1.0 |
6.5±1.5 |
|
T. indica |
4.0±4.0 |
0 |
3.5±3.5 |
9.0±9.0 |
|
M. meltada |
3.0±3.0 |
7.5±3.5 |
8.5±2.5 |
9.0±2.0 |
|
Total |
23.5±5.5 |
29.0±3.0 |
37.5±7.5 |
58.5±24.5 |
|
Village Bhundri |
B. bengalensis |
19.5±0.5 |
28.0±5.0 |
41.5±1.5 |
53.5±7.5 |
M. booduga |
7.0±2.0 |
11.5±5.5 |
13.0±9.0 |
18.5±13.5 |
|
T. indica |
8.5±4.5 |
6.5±6.5 |
14.0±5.0 |
12.0±8.0 |
|
M. meltada |
7.0±0.0 |
11.5±2.5 |
5.5±1.5 |
9.5±2.5 |
|
Total |
42.0±3.0 |
57.5±1.5 |
75.5±5.5 |
93.5±31.5 |
Table 4. Food
consumption by rodents around roosting and nesting sites of Spotted Owlets.
Location |
Food consumption (%) at different radii (mean±SD) |
|||
Up to100 m |
101–500 m |
501–1,000 m |
1,001–2,000 m |
|
PAU
campus |
63.2±32.6 |
75.9±15.3 |
85.2±13.1 |
94.7±4.7 |
Village
Chahar |
43.4±29.3 |
48.1±14.3 |
53.0±14.4 |
45.8±24.7 |
Village
Bhundri |
53.7±23.8 |
61.3±16.9 |
73.9±11.6 |
74.3±14.9 |
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