Some vertebrate prey of Barn Owls Tyto alba sumbaensis on Sumba and Rote, Indonesia

The diet of the Barn Owl Tyto alba sumbaensis is little known in Wallacea. Samples of pellets from nests in a church in an urban setting on Sumba and in a forested, limestone cli setting near Nembrala (Nemberala) on the small island of Rote (Roti), o Timor, were collected in July 2001 and July 2002, respectively. The Sumba sample contained the remains of rodents (three Black Rats Rattus rattus, four Paci c Rats R. exulans and one probable House Mouse Mus musculus) and birds (17 Eurasian Tree Sparrows Passer montanus). The sample from Rote contained the remains of 30 small fruit-bats (24 Geo roy’s Rousettes Rousettus amplexicaudatus and six that were probably also this species).