Winter diet of a Barn Owl and a Nankeen Kestrel in Diamantina National Park, western Queensland

Abstract

The diets of a Barn Owl 'Tyro Alba' and a Nankeen Kestrel 'Falco cellchroides' were sampled by analysing pellets collected from a roost of each species in Diamantina National Park, western Queensland, in June 2006. By number (n = 93), the Owl's diet consisted of 27% mammals (17% dasyurids, 10% rodents), 4% reptiles and 69% insects, and by biomass (1184 g), 93% mammals (20% dasyurids, 73% rodents), 2% reptiles and 5% insects. The Kestrel's diet consisted entirely of insects (n = 90): 87 locusts (Acrididae, 97%), two beetles (Coleoptera, 2%) and one cockroach (Blattodea, 1%).