The barn owl, a nocturnal raptor with cosmopolitan distribution, shows a great adaptability to different environments. Regarding prey, the barn owl is a rather selective species, but if changes in the abundance of the selected prey occur, it becomes an opportunistic predator and easily incorporates other prey in its diet, using a wide range of prey species and foraging habitats. Small rodents are usually the prey mostly used. Compared to the populations of north and eastern Europe, barn owl populations in the Mediterranean area have been the least studied. In Cyprus, where barn owl is a common bird species, there are no studies on its diet and feeding ecology. This study was carried out to contribute to the spatial and temporal patterns barn owl diet in Cyprus also providing information on small mammals’ presence and species composition on the island. This study was based on 1407 regurgitated pellet analysis that were collected from 26 sites representing six major habitat types on central and southern Cyprus from summer 2013 to summer 2014. The diet of the barn owl was described in terms of seasonal average biomass and numerical percentages of each prey species and compared by Kruskal–Wallis test. Seasonal prey diversity and evenness indices were also calculated. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the prey biomass proportion data assigned to six major habitat types with regard to elevation, vegetation and human uses. Low prey diversity was found comprised mainly of rodents (overall means 96.2 and 95.7% by number and biomass, respectively). Mice followed by rats were most important prey whereas insectivores, birds and insects were minor components of the owl’s diet. Evenness and diversity values were relatively similar among seasons. PCA differentiated mainly between lowland areas where mice were more abundant prey and mountainous areas where rats dominated in the diet. Insectivores correlated with birds, prey types characterizing several lowland and highland habitats. The barn owl prey composition in Cyprus suggests an opportunistic foraging behavior, low prey species diversity with variations in the main rodent prey that could be explained by their distribution, seasonal activity and habitat preferences.

中文翻译：

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塞浦路斯仓（Tyto alba）饮食的时空分布。

仓是具有世界性分布的夜间猛禽，对不同环境有很好的适应性。关于猎物，the是相当有选择性的物种，但是如果选定猎物的丰度发生变化，它将成为机会性捕食者，并利用多种猎物和觅食栖息地将其他猎物轻松地纳入其饮食中。小啮齿动物通常是最常使用的猎物。与北欧和东欧的种群相比，对地中海地区的仓种群的研究最少。在塞浦路斯，仓是一种常见的鸟类，目前尚无有关其饮食和喂养生态的研究。这项研究旨在促进塞浦路斯仓bar饮食的时空格局，并提供有关该岛上小型哺乳动物的存在和物种组成的信息。这项研究基于1407年反吹颗粒分析，该分析是从2013年夏季至2014年夏季从塞浦路斯中部和南部的六个主要生境类型的26个地点收集的。该谷仓猫头鹰的饮食以季节性平均生物量和数量百分比表示。每种猎物，并通过Kruskal–Wallis检验进行比较。还计算了季节性猎物多样性和均匀度指数。主成分分析（PCA）是根据海拔，植被和人类用途分配给六种主要栖息地类型的猎物生物量比例数据进行的。发现低的猎物多样性主要由啮齿动物组成（总数量和生物量分别为96.2和95.7％）。老鼠紧随其后的是老鼠，这是最重要的猎物，而食虫，鸟类和昆虫则是猫头鹰饮食中的次要组成部分。季节之间的均匀度和多样性值相对相似。PCA主要区别于低地地区和低地地区，在低地地区，老鼠是更多的猎物。食虫与鸟类有关，是几种低地和高地生境的特征。塞浦路斯的仓owl猎物组成表明其觅食行为是机会性的，猎物物种多样性低，主要啮齿动物的猎物有所变化，这可以用它们的分布，季节性活动和生境偏好来解释。老鼠紧随其后，是老鼠最重要的猎物，而食虫，鸟类和昆虫则是猫头鹰饮食中的次要组成部分。季节之间的均匀度和多样性值相对相似。PCA主要区别于低地地区和低地地区，在低地地区，老鼠是更多的猎物。食虫与鸟类有关，是几种低地和高地生境的特征。塞浦路斯的仓owl猎物组成表明其觅食行为是机会性的，猎物物种多样性低，主要啮齿动物的猎物有所变化，这可以用它们的分布，季节性活动和生境偏好来解释。老鼠紧随其后，是老鼠最重要的猎物，而食虫，鸟类和昆虫则是猫头鹰饮食中的次要组成部分。季节之间的均匀度和多样性值相对相似。PCA主要区别于低地地区和低地地区，在低地地区，老鼠是更多的猎物。食虫与鸟类有关，是几种低地和高地生境的特征。塞浦路斯的仓owl猎物组成表明其觅食行为是机会性的，猎物物种多样性低，主要啮齿动物的猎物有所变化，这可以用它们的分布，季节性活动和生境偏好来解释。季节之间的均匀度和多样性值相对相似。PCA主要区别于低地地区（老鼠是更多的猎物）和山区（老鼠在饮食中占主导）。食虫与鸟类有关，是几种低地和高地生境的特征。塞浦路斯的仓owl猎物组成表明其觅食行为是机会性的，猎物物种多样性低，主要啮齿动物的猎物有所变化，这可以用它们的分布，季节性活动和生境偏好来解释。季节之间的均匀度和多样性值相对相似。PCA主要区别于低地地区（老鼠是更多的猎物）和山区（老鼠在饮食中占主导）。食虫与鸟类有关，是几种低地和高地生境的特征。塞浦路斯的仓owl猎物组成表明其觅食行为是机会性的，猎物物种多样性低，主要啮齿动物的猎物有所变化，这可以用它们的分布，季节性活动和生境偏好来解释。