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Prey of Small Mammal-Eating Owls (Strix nebulosa, Bubo bubo) As a Source of Selective Accumulation of Palaeotheriological Material

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Abstract

The accumulation of prey remains in the pellets of the great gray owl in the winter and nesting periods was studied over a number of years at the contact of the taiga and northern forested steppe belts in the Trans-Urals. It is shown which of the characteristics of the hunting territory and the population of small mammals have the greatest effect on the composition and ratio of prey species. A comparison with the results of the feeding activity of the eagle owl was also made. Published information concerning four places of long-term nesting on rocks in the river valleys of the western slope of the Middle Urals in similar natural conditions was used as well. Selective accumulation of prey remains of these two owl species was revealed to lie in a small number of the main prey species, those mostly populating open habitats. In both owls, mammal species of closed forest (transitional) habitats served as concomitant (secondary) prey. The eagle owl was characterized by a large size range of prey. Special attention was paid to the indicator roles the concomitant prey play in paleoreconstructions.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank G.N. Bachurin, V.N. Bachurin, M.I. Cheprakov, N.O. Sadykova, and I.A. Smorkalov for their help in field work.

Funding

The work was carried out under a government contract of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, with partial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (19-04-01008 and 19-04-00507) and the Integrated Program of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (18-4-4-3).

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  1. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 620144, Yekaterinburg, Russia

    N. G. Smirnov, Yu. E. Kropacheva & S. V. Zykov

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  1. N. G. Smirnov
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  2. Yu. E. Kropacheva
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Correspondence to N. G. Smirnov.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This paper does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Translated by N. Smolina

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Smirnov, N.G., Kropacheva, Y.E. & Zykov, S.V. Prey of Small Mammal-Eating Owls (Strix nebulosa, Bubo bubo) As a Source of Selective Accumulation of Palaeotheriological Material. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 48 (Suppl 1), S118–S131 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S106235902114017X

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