The origins, and past and present status of the Little Owl

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THE ORIGINS, AND PAST AND PRESENT STATUS OF THE LITTLE OWL J. R. MARTIN The Little Owl (Athene noctua vidalli) is an introduced species to Britain. It is not normally present in Ireland, although it has been recorded there four times. The last occasion was in 1981. Breeding has never been recorded (Glue, in Gibbons et al., 1993). The Little Owl's natural ränge extends from the western coast of mainland Europe, across to central Russia, Mongolia and to China, although its ränge does not reach the Pacific Ocean. It is absent from India and much of south-east Asia. A paler race of the Little Owl, A.n.lilith, inhabits the dry, sandy region of the eastern end of the Mediterranean in Syria and Israel. The European race A.n.vidalli, is found in New Zealand where it was introduced by the Otago Acclimatisation Society in around 1906 (Marples, 1942). In India, parts of Indo-China and southern Iran, the Little Owl is replaced by the Spotted Little Owl (A.brama). The Forest Spotted Little Owl (A.blewitti) of northern India has not been recorded since 1968 and is endangered, perhaps even extinct, for despite searches in recent years it has not been recorded since 1968 (Burton, 1984).

Breeding Glue and Scott (1980) found that the Little Owl nests in a variety of places, but prefers to breed mainly in agricultural areas with plenty of timber in the form of copses, hedgerows, orchards or woods. They found that out of a total of 526 nests nearly 92% were in trees, and the most favoured site was a hole in a deciduous species. Buildings and other structures accounted for 6.7%, whilst rock clefts, rabbit burrows and other sites accounted for 1.7%. The data were obtained from the nest record cards held by the British Trust for Ornithology, and therefore represent the countrywide picture for nest sites and habitats in mainland Britain. R. B. Warren informs me that during the 1970s he found a nest in a quarry in east Suffolk. Jourdain (in Witherby et al., 1938) stated that the nests of Stock Dove (Columba oenas) and Jackdaw ( C o n us monedula) were also used. According to Glue and Scott (1980), and Wijnandts (1984) the Little Owl has the shortest breeding season of any of the five owls which regularly breed in Britain, with egg-laying almost exclusively confined to April and May. Glue and Scott (1980) found that 83% of clutches were started between 1 Ith April and lOth May, and Walpole-Bond (1938) gives dates in Sussex as between 20th April and lOth May. The size of the average clutch is 3.59, with an incubation period of around 28 to 33 days (Haverschmidt, 1946; Glue & Scott 1980). Fiedging occurs after 24 to 31 days, when young owls closely resemble their parents. Bearing these facts in mind, sightings of Little Owls in July may represent birds dispersing from the nest-site (Glue, 1973 and personal observations), and should not, therefore, be assigned as possible breeding records.

Diet Mikkola (1983) has observed "Fewer studies have been published

on the Little

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 30 (1994)


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