First Observations of an Eastern Screech-Owl, Megascops asio, Population in an Apple-Producing Region of Southern Quebec

Authors

  • Ngaiou L. Richards Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT
  • Pierre Mineau Canadian Wildlife Service / National Wildlife Research Centre, Environment Canada, 2 Raven Road, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H3
  • David M. Bird Avian Science and Conservation Centre, Department of Natural Resource Science, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, 21, 111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec H9X 3V9
  • Pierre Wery Parc national du Mont-Saint-Bruno, 330 rang des 25 Est, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Québec J3V 4P6
  • Jacques Larivée Étude des populations d'oiseaux du Québec, 194 Ouellet Street, Rimouski, Québec G5L 4R5
  • Jason Duffe Cégep de Rimouski, 60 Évêché ouest, Rimouski, Québec G5L 4H6

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v120i3.318

Keywords:

Eastern Screech-Owl, Megascops asio, natural history, ecology, apple orchard, Quebec, range, distribution, census, pellet analysis, prey inventory, nest box, wing chord, population management, pesticide exposure, habitat loss, development, conservation

Abstract

Baseline information was collected on a local Eastern Screech-Owl population found in the apple-producing region of Saint-Hilaire and Rougemont, Quebec, as part of a larger study on pesticide exposure conducted between 2000 and 2003. Screech-Owls visited or occupied 41 of 89 nest boxes installed in 12 orchards and 2 control locations. The mean height of occupied nest boxes was 3.83 m (2.00 – 5.80 m). Squirrels, Sciurus and Tamiasciurius sp., and chipmunks, Tamias striatus, Northern Flickers, Colaptes auratus, and wasps were the owls’ primary competitors for the boxes. Intact Screech-Owl pellets retrieved from nest boxes (n = 82) had a mean length and width of 3.57 and 1.44 cm, respectively, and weighed a mean of 1.77 g. Screech-Owls in the study area consumed a variety of small mammal, avian, insect and aquatic prey. Of these, Meadow Voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, were the predominant prey item identified in pellets, and Mourning Doves, Zenaida macroura, were the primary avian prey found in nest boxes. In Canada, the owl’s trend status remains largely unknown. The species is currently listed as “Not at Risk”, based on an assessment conducted for COSEWIC in 1986. Given that a limited amount of information exists on the natural history and ecology of the species in Quebec, we also generated a map of the owl’s distribution in the province, using data from ornithological databases and rehabilitation facilities. Potential risks to the species within the province, particularly pesticide exposure and habitat loss, are briefly addressed and follow-up studies are discussed.

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