Contribution à l'étude du régime alimentaire de la chouette chevêche (Athena noctua) en Belgique

The recognition of 1,782 preys from 9 little owl's (Athena noctua) pellet samples shows us that: i: the importance of the vertebrates in the owl's diet varies sharp from one season to the other (mean value: 11.1 %); ii:voles of the genus Microtus account for 4/5 of the owl's vertebrate preys; iii: the more abundant insects in the owl's diet are weevils (19%), cantharis (19 %), ground beetles (12%), earwigs (11%), beetles and may beetles (17%); iv: the little owl principally hunts by foot as his major prey items live on the ground or at a very low level in the grasses. Moreover, the analysis of 4 stomach contents (127 preys) suggests that the preys without any resistant anatomic feature (such as caterpillars or earthworms) probably disappears and thus let appear no identifiable remain in the pellets, when they easily can be found in the stomachs.