BREEDING-SEASON DIET OF SHORT-EARED OWLS IN MASSACHUSETTS

Short-eared Owl diet at Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Chatham, Massachusetts, was studied from 1982-1987. Pellet and carcass data yielded 3654 prey items; 2948 from the breeding season and 706 from the non-breeding season. Thirty-two prey species from four taxonomic classes were recorded. Approximately 83.0% of the breeding season diet was small mammals. Of these, 93.8% were meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Mammals represented 95.0% of the non-breeding season diet, with meadow voles accounting for 97.9%. Prey per pellet averaged 1.2 and 1.0 for the breeding and non-breeding seasons, respectively.