%0 Journal Article %T Diet Composition of the Barn Owl Tyto alba (Aves: Tytonidae) and Spotted Owlet Athene brama (Aves: Strigidae) Coexisting in an Urban Environment %A A. Mohamed Samsoor Ali %A R. Santhanakrishnan %J Podoces %P 21-32 %@ 1735-6725 %D 2012 %X The comparative diet of the Barn OwlTyto alba and the Spotted Owlet Athene brama were studied in an urban habitat of Madurai District, Tamil Nadu, Southern India, during January¨CDecember 2008. Regurgitated pellets of these two owl species were analysed to understand their dietary composition. The diet of the Barn Owl mainly comprised small mammals such as Suncus murinus(51.9%) and Rattus rattus(28.6%), while the diet of the Spotted Owlet comprised mostly arthropods (84.9%); Coleoptera (40.9%) and Orthoptera (32.4%). Food niche overlap between the Barn Owl and the Spotted Owlet in overall diet was 6.5%,which indicated very low degree of overlap. %K Arthropods %K Barn Owl %K Diet %K Food %K niche overlap %K Small mammal %K Spotted Owlet %U http://www.wesca.net/Podoces/Podoces7/PODOCES%207-%20Diet%20of%20Barn%20Owl%20and%20Spotted%20Owlet.pdf