Silent predator: Dietary patterns of Tyto furcata (Strigiformes: Tytonidae) at the Taiamã Ecological Station, Pantanal, Brazil

The Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland globally, faces growing threats from habitat destruction, agribusiness growth, and wildfires The barn owl, Tyto furcata (Temminck, 1827), is an opportunistic predator that helps structure small vertebrate communities, primarily by preying on non-volant mammals. We investigated the diet of T. furcata at the Taiamã Ecological Station, in the northern Pantanal, by analyzing 167 owl pellets (95 intact and 72 partially disintegrated) collected in August 2017, September 2019, and March 2020. Cranial and dental remains were examined to estimate the minimum number of individuals represented in the diet of the barn owl. A total of 255 prey items were identified, dominated by Holochilus chacarius Thomas, 1906 (88.2%) and Cryptonanus chacoensis (Tate, 1931) (7.8%), followed by birds (3.5%) and bats (0.4%). Some species previously recorded through live trapping, such as Philander opossum (Linnaeus, 1758) and Oecomys mamorae (Thomas, 1906), were absent from the pellets, suggesting that prey selection is influenced by abundance, behavior, and accessibility. These results underscore the value of owl pellet analysis to detect cryptic or underrepresented species and to complement traditional survey methods. As anthropogenic pressures intensify, understanding the dynamics of populations of small mammals becomes increasingly urgent, highlighting the need for complementary tools to support ecological research and conservation.

KEYWORDS:
Barn owl; biodiversity monitoring; diet analysis; foraging behavior; small mammal predation