Role of experience and maturation in barn owl predatory behaviour

Csermely, Davide; Sponza, Stefano

doi:10.1080/11250009509356063

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Additionally, similar data from adult/subadult barn owls (Tyto alba Scopoli, 1769) (n = 10), published elsewhere (Csermely & Sponza, 1995), are incorporated herewith as reference and comparison, since the tests had been carried out at the same location and with the same procedure used for the other species. However, it is necessary to point out that the barn owls described in Csermely & Sponza (1995) made a sequence of five repeated predation tests, while here we consider the first of such predations only.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive details in the comparison of predatory behaviourw of four owl species

Csermely

Casagrande

Sponza

2002

Italian Journal of Zoology

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The predatory behaviour of four owl species, tawny owl (Strix aluco), long-eared owl (Asio otus), little owl (Athene noctua) and barn owl (Tyto alba), was compared. The birds were wild individuals temporarily in captivity for rehabilitation and were tested before release into an outdoor pen. Between four and ten birds per species were individually tested by offering a laboratory mouse used as prey. The resulting sequence of the predatory behaviour patterns was homogeneous among the species. The latency to attack was similar and there was a tendency to prefer direct attacks, i.e. landing onto the prey directly, instead of indirect ones, i.e. landing a few centimetres from the mouse. However, tawny owls used the former attack only. The various degrees of specialisation to hunt small mammals is reflected by the grip location: the barn owls strongly preferred to seize the mouse on the head, while the little owls preferred the trunk and the other species preferred either location. Similarly, after grasping the mouse tawny and long--eared owls struck it with the beak, while the little owls performed strikes similar to bites. In contrast, barn owls performed a peculiar torsion of the neck region, instead of a beak strike. We interpret this pattern difference within a basically homogeneous behaviour sequence as evolutionary radiation due to species-specific specialisation of feeding and hunting behaviour.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive details in the comparison of predatory behaviourw of four owl species

Csermely

Casagrande

Sponza

2002

Italian Journal of Zoology

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“…The debilitation state in which M1 was recovered allows for us to hypothesize that an inability to search for food after liberation is a possible cause. This could suggest that long detention periods can lead porcupines to develop addiction towards human-supplied feed, as also observed in wolves and birds [22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Therefore, M1-post-liberation behavior could lead to other attributes as the causes of unsuccessful liberation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Porcupettes Management at Wildlife Rescue Centers and Liberation into the Wild: Implications for Post-Liberation Success

Coppola

Dari

Vecchio³

et al. 2023

Animals

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The crested porcupine is a frequent host species in wildlife rescue centers and no guidelines for its management, liberation and post-liberation monitoring are yet available. Here, captive-grown porcupines’ behavior and survival in the wild after liberation were investigated and described for the first time. Management strategies adopted at the centers could affect porcupine adaptation to the natural environment. The detention of porcupettes in single cages and fed only human-supplied food may not ensure ethological welfare, nor a suitable behavioral development compatible with wildlife. The liberation of captive-grown porcupines should also be carefully planned to promote and increase the possibility of post-liberation success.

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“…However, while flying ability seems to be acquired almost correctly in captivity, one difficulty can be identified in the correct develpment of the predatory behaviour. Although this likely develops without necessity of a specific learning process (cf., Meyer-Holzapfel & Räber, 1976;Csermely & Sponza, 1995), it seems important to stress to release birds after having trained them to both hunt and recognize a variety of suitable prey during the captivity period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behaviour of hand‐reared orphaned long‐eared owls and tawny owls after release in the wild

Csermely

2000

Italian Journal of Zoology

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Two groups of eight long-eared owls, Asio otus, and eight tawny owls, Strix aluco, which entered a Rehabilitation Centre as nestlings, were studied. When more than 60 days old they were released to the wild. The aim of this study concerns the analysis of their behaviour immediately after release and their adaptation to natural life. The owls were radio-tagged and followed continuously, also with direct observation, until they disappeared from the area or died. The long-eared owls, released in an agricultural area with scattered woods, were reluctant to fly frequently and remained mostly in thick vegetation along stream banks or very close to the release pen itself. Nevertheless, they progressively enlarged their home range in a matter of days. Half of them disappeared from the study area within 11 days; three others died in a few days, apparently from starvation, while the last owl was rescued because it fell into a stream. In contrast, the tawny owls had a much better survival rate, as only one out of the eight died because it was preyed on in the early days. The birds remained in the area for a longer time, constantly within the woods, and flew more often. They, too, enlarged their home range but only until day 10, when there was a contraction in size. Thus, inexperienced hand-reared owlets are able to survive in the wild, but the possibility to cope with the new environment varies greatly between species, possibly due to environmental characteristics.

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Role of experience and maturation in barn owl predatory behaviour

Cited by 8 publications

References 12 publications

Adaptive details in the comparison of predatory behaviourw of four owl species

Adaptive details in the comparison of predatory behaviourw of four owl species

Porcupettes Management at Wildlife Rescue Centers and Liberation into the Wild: Implications for Post-Liberation Success

Behaviour of hand‐reared orphaned long‐eared owls and tawny owls after release in the wild

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