Social Interactions between Two Owl Species Sometimes Associated with Intraguild Predation

[摘要] Speciesmayactsimultaneouslyascompetitorandpredatorforotherspeciesatthesametrophiclevel.ThisisknownasIntraguildPredation(IGP).Mostresearchonthistopicdescribesthefinalstepsofthisphenomenon,whenonespeciessufferslostprogenyordecreasednumbersduetopredationandcompetitionbyanotherspecies.However,littleisknownaboutthemechanismthatregulatesthisinteractioninprevioussteps.Inthisworktwospeciesofthesameguild(LittleOwlAthenenoctuaandBarnOwlTytoalba)wereselectedtotestthehypothesisthatthehuntingandsocialbehaviouroftheLittleOwlwouldbeconditionedbythepresenceofBarnOwls.NineLittleOwlswereradio-trackedandmonitoredforninemonths.1223fixeswereobtainedand250hoursoflisteningwererecorded.Moreover,duringthistimeBarnOwlsweredetected66timesscreeching,huntingorflyinginthesameareasasthemonitoredLittleOwls.Thesubsequentactivity(movementsandvoices)oftaggedanduntaggedLittleOwlswasobservedduring30-minuteperiods.TheresultsshowthatLittleOwlbehaviourwasaffectedbyBarnOwlpresence.WhenLittleOwlsnotedthepresenceofBarnOwls,theystayedquietandsilent,oralternatively,soughtrefugeinthebranchesoftreesorinsecureholesinbuildings,resumingtheiractivitiesminuteslater,whentheriskofpredationwaspresumablylower.ThisbehaviourmayhaveenabledsurvivalandsuccessfulbreedingofLittleOwlincloseproximitytoBarnOwls.

[学科分类] 动物科学

[关键词] Tyto Alba