SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
ORING, L. W., AND D. B. LANK. 1982. Sexual selec-
tion, arrival times, philopatry, and site fidelity in
the polyandrousSpotted Sandpiper. Behav. Ecol.
Sociobiol. 10:185-l 9 1.
RAPPOLE,
J. H., M. A. RAMOS,ANDK. WINKER.
1989.
Wintering Wood Thrush movements and mortality in southernVeracruz. Auk 106:402-4 10.
RAPFQLE,
J. H., ANDD. W. WARNER. 1980. Ecological
aspects of migrant bird behavior in Veracruz,
Mexico, p. 353-393. In A. Keast and E. S. Morton
[eds.], Migrant birds in the neotropics. Smithsonian Inst. Press,Washington, DC.
The Condor 94529-531
0 The Cooper Ornithological
529
S. G., AND G. C. BIERMANN.
1983. Timing of
breeding and migrations in a population of Least
Flycatchers in Manitoba. J. Field Omithol. 54:
113-122.
SMALLWOOD,
J. A. 1988. A mechanism of sexualsegregation bv habitat in American Kestrels (F&co
sp&veriusjwintering in south-centralFlorida. Auk
105:3646.
WINKER,
K., J. H. RAPF’OLE,
AND M. A. RAMOS. 1990.
Population dynamics of the Wood Thrush (NYlocichla mustelina) in southernVeracruz, Mexico.
Condor 92:444-460.
SEALY,
Society 1992
NOTES ON FOOD HABITS
OF THE BLACK AND
WHITE
OWL’
CARLOS
IBtiEZ
Estacion Biologica de Doiiana, C.S.I.C.,
CRISTINA
Universidad National
Key words:
RAMO~
AND
Apartado 1056, 41080 Sevilla, Spain
BENJAMIN
BUSTO
Experimental de 10sLlanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora,
Guanare, Estado Portuguesa, Venezuela
Black and White Owl; Ciccaba nigro-
lineata;food habits; Venezuela.
The Black and White Owl, Ciccaba nigrolineata, is a
neotropical wood owl whose feeding habits are little
known, as is the case for most tropical owls (Clark et
al. 1978). We collected the pellets produced by a pair
of Black and White Owls from September 17-October
25, 198 1 in Mesa de Cavacas(YSN, 69”48’W), a town
six kilometers west of Guanare, Portuguesastate,Venezuela. This site is located at 300 m on the Andean
Piedmont, the transition zone betweenthe Andes Cordillera and the plains (“llanos”), of the dry tropical
forest life zone (Ewe1et al. 1976). The natural vegetation has been mostly replacedby cropsand pastures.
We gathered pellets in a rural town made up of onestory housessurroundedby small fruit orchards,mainly mango (Mangifera indicu), guava (Psidium guayuba), plantain banana (Mu.sa paradisiaca), and papaya
(Carica papaya). During this period the owls regularly
roosted during the day in a large mango.
We were not able to count the number of pellets, or
the number of prey per pellet becausesomehad disintegrated. We totaled the number of individuals eaten
accordingto each taxon, generally the species,on the
I Received 18 September 1991. Accepted 20 December 1991.
2Present address: Estacion Biologica de Doiiana,
C.S.I.C., Apartado 1056, 41080 Sevilla, Spain.
basis of the largest number of parts used for identification (crania, mandibles, beaks, feet, elytra, etc.).
For bats and birds, the body mass assignedto each
prey was based on comparative material collected in
the study area. For insectsand amphibians, we determined massusingregressionequationsfor total length
and body mass calculatedby Zug and Zug (1979) and
C. Ramo and B. Busto (unpubl. data), respectively.
We identified a total of 64 prey (38 vertebratesand
26 insects) (Table 1). The most frequent prey were
mammals (45.3% of the total), including two commensalrodentsand 27 batsbelongingto 14 speciesand
5 feeding guilds (Bonaccorso1979). Birds represented
9.4% ofthe total. Consideringbiomass,the importance
of insectsgreatlydiminishes(3.7%) and the importance
of vertebrates except amphibians increases(Table 1).
The size of the vertebrates ranged from 10 to 150 g;
most (68.6%) were between 20 and 60 g. The insects
were mainly tettigonids and scarabslonger than 30
mm.
Fifty-one percent of the prey were aerial (birds and
bats). Becausewe can add at least some of the insects
and amphibians to this percentage(some speciesare
arboreal), it is apparent that most prey were not captured on the ground and the owl can be considered
primarily a canopy hunter.
Publishedinformation on the diet of Ciccaba nigroline&a is scarceand chiefly anecdotal.Marshall (1943)
analyzed the stomachcontentsof a pair in El Salvador
and found grasshoppersin the female, and grasshoppers and two bats in the male. In another pair captured
530
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
TABLE 1. Frequency of presenceand biomass contribution by prey found in pellets of the Black and White
Owl. Bat feeding guilds: (A) slow-flying hawking insectivores;(B) fast-flying hawking insectivores;(C) nectarfruit-insect omnivores; (D) groundstoryfmgivores; and (E) canopy fiugivores.
Prey
Bat feeding guild
Mammals
Chiroptera
Saccopteryx bilineata
Phyllostomus discolor
Glossophaga soricina
Carollia perspicillata
Uroderma sb.
Chiroderma villosum
Artibeus cinereus
Artibeus jamaicensis
Lasiurus borealis
Lasiurus ega
Eumops auripendulus
Eumops glaucinus
Affolossusmolossus
Molossus pretiosus
A
C
C
D
E
E
E
:
A
B
B
B
B
n
78.4
27
64.2
0.8
6.8
1.7
1.4
1.7
2.0
10
2
2
1
1
10
17
20
24
13
40
10
1.1
17.0
0.8
1.3
5
38
1
4
27
3.0
16.1
1.3
9.2
17
150
14.2
1.4
12.7
6
15.4
6
60
20
32
26
12
15.4
5.1
1.7
5.4
2.2
1.0
1
2
Amphibians
Anura (Hylidae)
3
Insects
Coleoptera
Buprestidae
Scarabeidae
Ortoptera
Thettigonidae
Blatidae
26
in Chiapas, Mexico, the bulk of their food consisted
of large insects including beetles, tettigoniids, and cicadids; one stomach contained the remains of a bat,
Pteronotus davyi (Tashian 1952). On Barro Colorado
Island, Panama, Wetmore (1968) observeda C. nigrolineata hunting bats (Myotis nigricans). The stomach
ofanother specimencontainedalong-tailed mouseand
a small bat. Mikkola (1973). considered the soecies
insectivorous,possiblybasedon the former references,
even though one stomach examined contained a bat.
Morrison (1975) captured a C. nigrolineata in a mist
net while it was attacking a captured bat (Artibeus jamaicensis). Schauenseeand Phelps (1978) included rodents, bats and insectsin the diet of this owl.
With the exception of some twilight specialists(Machaeramphus alcinus and Falco rufgularis), predation
on bats by owls and raptors has been consideredto be
only occasional(Gillette and Kimbrough 1970, Fenton
40
::
Rattus rattus
Tangara cayana
Thraupis episcopus
Ramphocelus carbo
Sporophila sp.
% Total biomass
29
Rodentia
Mus musculus
Birds
Passeriformes
Turdus sp.
Mass g
15
2.5
10
11
3
8
15
14
2.5
3.7
0.24
2.04
1.4
0.0
1.4
2.3
1.57
4.83
1.9
0.4
and Fleming 1976, Gaisler 1979). Opportunistic predation by owls and raptors upon the large colonies of
Tadarida brasiliensis in the southern United States is
well known. In this case,the batsare leavingtheir caves
in large groups(e.g., Barbour and Davis 1969). In our
case,the owl probably captured many bats in this situation, especiallythose such as the fast-flying insectivores which could be difficult to capture under other
circumstances.Nevertheless, the bats preyed upon by
the owl generallyform small and monospecificcolonies
(less than one hundred individuals) (Graham 1988).
Therefore, the owls would need to locate a large number of colonies.It is also possiblethat the owl captured
the frugivorous bats during foraging. Since certain of
the bats’ behaviors with high energeticcosts can best
be explained asa responseto predation pressureduring
foraging (Morrison 1978a, 1978b, 1980; Fleming and
Heithaus 1986; Fleming 1982, 1988).
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
531
Our data and previouslypublishedinformation show GILLETE,D. D., AND J. D. K~MBROUGH.1970. Chiropteran mortality, p. 262-283. In B. H. Slaugther
that the Black and White Owl frequently capture bats.
and D. W. Walton. leds.1.About bats. Southern
The diversity of bat life styles preyed upon suggests
Methodist Univ. Press,Dallas.
different capture strategiesand a specialization in the
predation on bats. The generalization that predation GRAHAM,G. L. 1988. Interspecificassociationsamong
Peruvian bats at diurnal roosts and roost sites. J.
on bats by owls is of little importance is based on
Mammal. 69:71 l-720.
information from temperate regions. In the tropics,
MARSHALL,J. T., JR. 1943. Additional information
where bats are a more abundant, constant and preconcemina the birds of El Salvador. Condor 45:
dictable resource throughout the year, predation by
21-33.
owls could be important.
MIKKOLA,H. 1973. Wood owls, p. 116-146. In J. A.
Burton, [ed.], Owls of the world, their evolution,
LITERATURE CITED
structureand ecology. E. P. Dutton, New York.
BARBOUR, R. W., AND W. H. DAVIS. 1969. Bats of
MORRISON,D. W. 1975. Foragingbehavior and feedAmerica. Univ. Kentucky Press,Kentucky.
ing ecologyof a neotropical fruit bat Artibeus jaBONACCORSO,
F. J. 1979. Foraging and reproductive
maicensis. Unpubl. Ph.D.diss. Cornell Univ., Ithecology in a Panamanian bat community. Bull.
aca, NY (Univ. Microfilm no. 6-12,829).
Florida State Mus., Biol. Sci. 24:359408.
MORRISON,D. W. 1978a. Foraging ecologyand enCLARK,R. J., D. G. SMITH,AND L. H. KELSO. 1978.
ergeticsof the frugivorousbat Artibeus jamaicenWorking bibliography of owls of the world. Nat].
sii. Ecology 591716-723.
Wildl. Fed., Washington DC.
MORRISON.D. W. 1978b. Lunar nhobia in a neoEWEL,J. J., A. MADRID, ANDJ. A. Torn. 1976. Zonas
tropical fruit bat, Artibeus jamkcensis (Chiropde vida de Venezuela. Second ed. Ministerio de
tera: Phyllostomidae). Anim. Behav. 26:852-855.
Agricultura y Cria, Caracas.
MORRISON, D. W. 1980. Foraging and day-roosting
FENTON,M. B., ANDT. H. FLEMING. 1976. Ecological
dynamicsofcanopy fruit bats in Panama.J. Maminteractions between bats and nocturnal birds.
mal. 61:20-29.
Biotropica 8:104-l 10.
SCHAUNSEE,R. M., AND W. H. PHELPS,
JR. 1978. A
FLEMING,T. H. 1982. Foraging strategiesof plantguide to the birds of Venezuela. Princeton Univ.
visiting bats, p. 287-325 Ii T. H. Kunz-[ed.],
Press,Princeton, NJ.
Ecology of bats. Plenum Press,New York.
TASHIAN,R. E. 1952. Some birds from the Palenque
FLEMING,T. H., 1988. The short-tailed fruit bat: a
region of northeasternChiapas.
_ Mexico. Auk 69:
study in plant-animal interactions.Univ. Chicago
60-66.
Press,Chicago.
WETMORE, A. 1968. The birds of the republic of PanFLEMING,T. H., ANDE. R. HEITHAUS. 1986. Seasonal
ama. Part 2. Columbidae (pigeons)
to Picidae
._ _
foraging behavior of the frugivorus bat Carollia
(woodpeckers).Smithsonian Misc. dol. vol. 150,
uersuicillata. J. Mammal. 671660-671.
part 2, Washington, DC.
GAI~LER;J. 1979. Ecologyof bats, p. 28 l-342. In D.
ZUG, G. R., AND P. B. ZUG. 1979. The marine toad,
M. Stoddard [ed.], Ecology of small mammals.
Bufi marinus: a natural history resume of native
Chapman and Hall, London.
populations. Smithsonian Contr. Zoo]. 284:1-58.