Diet of the Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) in Mediterranean Spain

Abstract

Bubo bubo is a wide range predator in the Mediterranean zone of Spain. Its diet, which is mainly based on rabbit, does not seem to have clear time variations. There exist variations between different localities sutidied, these being principally due to man's utilization of land near to the nest.The main difference between the diet of the owls studied by us and those of the wet regions of of Europe, is the larger consumption of Duplicidentata, reptiles and insects in the Mediterranean regions as against small mammals, amphibians and fishes in the wet regions of Europe. In the list of prey items mentioned in this study, small mammals, rather than reptiles, are in the majority; in the text, no other specific reference to bibliography is made. This author published in the same year and in the review "Nos Oiseaux" (Thiollay, 1968) a list of prey items in which the majority ot these species were birds mainly passeriformes.

El Buho real (Bubo bubo) es un predador que ocupa diversos hábitats en la zona de clima mediterráneo de España: Su dieta, cuya base la constituyen principalmente los conejos (Oryctolagus cunicutus) no parece mostrar variaciones estacionales claras. Existen variaciones entre las diferentes localidades estudiadas, aunque éstas son debidas principalmente a la utilización humana de los terrenos inmediatos al nido. La diferencia principal entre la dieta de los búhos estudiados por nosotros y los que habitan las regiones más húmedas de Europa es el mayor consumo de Duplicidentata, reptiles e insectos en las regiones mediterráneas en contraste con micromamíferos, anfibios y peces en las regiones de la Europa templada.