Diet and Habitat Analysis of Barn Owls (Tyto alba) Nesting at Ponca State Park

Authors

Ann Spilker, Concordia UniversityFollow
Joseph A. Gubanyi, Concordia University, Seward, NEFollow

Date of this Version

9-2017

Citation

The Nebraska Bird Review Vol. 85 No. 3 (2017), pp 121-127

Comments

Published by the Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union, Inc.

Abstract

In 2015 Barn Owls (Tyto alba) nested on the floor of a grain bin in Ponca State Park, Dixon County. Seven nestlings were observed (Figure 1). It is believed that 6 fledged (one carcass was found on the floor of the bin September 26). Barn Owls were not observed the following spring (Jan Johnson, personal communication). Because there are few records of Barn Owls in the region, we collected data to better understand the Barn Owl nesting in Ponca State Park. Barn Owl prey and their importance to reproductive success has been well documented (Marti et al. 2005; Gubanyi et al. 1991); therefore, we analyzed Barn Owl pellets to determine their prey and used GIS software to analyze prey habitat near the nest site.