The diet of Southern Boobooks in South Australia

Abstract

Gizzard contents from 117 Southern Boobooks, Ninox novaeseelandiae, collected throughout South Australia were analysed for sexual and seasonal differences in diet. Overall, invertebrates made up 95.9% of the diet by numbers. Coleoptera, Orthoptera and Lepidoptera were the most important prey groups ingested. Seasonal differences in the consumption of some prey groups were found, apparently correlated with seasonal variation in the abundance of those groups. Overall, males took more prey than females, and there were significant differences between the sexes with respect to the animals captured.