Temporal analysi sof the diet of Athene cunicularia in Brasília-DF

Abstract

Athene cunicularia is a cosmopolitan owl, their nest is present in bare soil. A. cunicularia regurgitates the non-digest material, and the analysis of this material allow an accurate investigation of their diet in a non-invasive way. This study described the temporal variation on the diet content of this owl in two season (dry and rain season). The samples were collected in two climatic periods (dry: May to June and wet: December to January) and were stored in zip bags previously tagged with all sample information. The diet contend was identified as morphotypes. It was verified 80 individuals distributed in five taxonomic groups. In general insects contributes with 80% of A. cunicularia diet (Coleoptera-56%; Battaria: 22%). Insect consumption was higher in wet season (92%) and lower in the dry season (67%), period that this owl uses small vertebrates (12%) and tenebios larvae (8%) as well. A tradeoff between the abundance and the nutritional value of each item is an important factor to explain the temporal variation in the A. cunicularia diet. The climatic factors influence the fauna and it is evidenced in the diet analysis. On the dry season, period of lower insect abundance, others items were used by this owl.