Étude du Régime alimentaire de la Chouette effraie (Tytoalba) dans la région d'El-Atteuf (wilaya de Ghardaïa)

Abstract

This work focuses on the study of Tyto alba’s diet through the analysis of discard balls in the station (El-Atteuf) in Ghardaïa. Based on the analysis of 52 discard balls collected monthly for 2 months, we identified 5 trophic categories represented with a total of 96 individuals. The most common class is birds (AR = 71.88%), followed by rodents (AR = 19.79%). The other trophic categories are represented by values that do not exceed 5% especially insects (AR = 4.17%), reptiles and bats (AR = 2.08%). In terms of species, Streptopelia (AR = 42.71%) and Passeriforme (AR = 20.83%) are the most prey consumed by this predator in El-Atteuf. The barn owl is considered as generalist predator (E = 0.73) in Ghardaïa, characterized by a diversified diet.