Athene cunicularia (Molina, 1782)

Dias, H. V. R., Almeida, A. J., Maia-Júnior, J. A., Ribeiro, R. R., Torres-Cordido, K. A. A., Godinho, A. B. F. R. & Silveira, L. S., 2024, Monitoring the feeding and parental care behavior of a pair of free-living owls (Tyto furcata) in the nest during the reproductive period in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Brazilian Journal of Biology (e 249169) 84, pp. 1-7 : 1-2

( Athene cunicularia ), great horned owl ( Bubo virginianus )

and black-banded owl ( Strix huhula ) ( Menq, 2013).

Tyto furcata (American barn owl) lives in urban environments and is considered an essential predator for biological control of pests that pose a risk to public

health ( Lekunze et al., 2001; Magrini and Facure, 2008). The species diet consists mainly of small rodents and insects ( Roda, 2006), thus helping to reduce the population of rodents and insects that are potentially harmful to human health. Therefore, studying the behavior and diet of those birds in the urban setting is of ecological and public health interest, and what they eat precisely reflects the variation in population and composition of the local fauna ( Love et al., 2000).

In species in which male and female care for the brood, taking into account the behavior of both of them is important to the reproductive success (Burtka and Grindstaff, 2015).

Isaac et al. (2008) recommend carrying out ecological studies related to the breeding of owls in less natural environments to ensure their conservation, as they would help to understand the reason for the use of urban areas. The same authors consider that the use of nest boxes allocated according to the birds’ georeferencing helps to guarantee their reproduction ( Isaac et al., 2008). Urban habitats can be chosen by individuals with a behavioral phenotype characterized by less fear of proximity to humans, as seen in the burrowing owl ( Cavalli et al., 2018).

This research work aimed to observe and describe the social, reproductive, and feeding behavior of a wild pair of Tyto furcata during the reproductive period in an urban region of the municipality of Campos dos Goytacazes (Rio de Janeiro state). The observations described the copulation, egg laying, incubation, hatching, and feeding of the parents and the chicks, by analyzing the frequency, duration, and temporal duration of behavior .