Possible Causes of Temporal Changes in the Diet Composition of Common Barn-Owls Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769) (Strigiformes: Tytonidae) in Baranja, Croatia.

Changes in land use affect the life of small mammals and the owls that prey on them. The aim of the present work was to follow changes in the composition of the common barn-owls' prey and the landscape structure of their hunting areas. In 2007 and 2016, we collected owl pellets in the whole area of Baranja region but samples from both periods originated only from 10 sites. The diversity of small mammals in the prey was similar in both years, while common vole (Microtus arvalis) dominated with over 60%. In pellets collected in 2016, we found significantly more bicolored shrews (Crocidura leucodon), lesser white-toothed shrews (Crocidura suaveolens) and yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis), while the proportions of harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) and eastern house mouse (Mus musculus) were significantly lower than in the previous sampling. The landscape structure of hunting areas has hardly changed over the decade; therefore, the temporal variations in the owls' diet composition may have been caused by changes in farming practices such as the frequent mowing of meadows, the regulation of the use of pesticides, the depopulation of villages and also the effects of extreme weather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]