Diet and Foraging

The diet of the Black-and-white Owl is made up of insects, bats, other small mammals, and birds (28 Ibáñez, C., Ramo, C. and Busto, B. (1992). Notes on food habits of the Black and White Owl. Condor. 94(2): 529–531. Close , 29 Gerhardt, R.P., Gerhardt, D.M., Flatten, C.J. and Bonilla, N. (1994). The food habits of sympatric Ciccaba owls in northern Guatemala. J. Field Orn.. 65(2): 258–264. Close ). In a sample of 73 pellets from a single pair of owls in Guatemala, all pellets contained insects, and 26% contained only insects (29 Gerhardt, R.P., Gerhardt, D.M., Flatten, C.J. and Bonilla, N. (1994). The food habits of sympatric Ciccaba owls in northern Guatemala. J. Field Orn.. 65(2): 258–264. Close ); insects were regular, but less dominant, items in the diet of a pair from Venezuela (28 Ibáñez, C., Ramo, C. and Busto, B. (1992). Notes on food habits of the Black and White Owl. Condor. 94(2): 529–531. Close ). The insects consumed by Black-and-white Owl are predominately coleopterans and orthopterans (28 Ibáñez, C., Ramo, C. and Busto, B. (1992). Notes on food habits of the Black and White Owl. Condor. 94(2): 529–531. Close , 29 Gerhardt, R.P., Gerhardt, D.M., Flatten, C.J. and Bonilla, N. (1994). The food habits of sympatric Ciccaba owls in northern Guatemala. J. Field Orn.. 65(2): 258–264. Close ).

Bats are the most frequent vertebrate in the diet, while rodents are consumed only rarely (28 Ibáñez, C., Ramo, C. and Busto, B. (1992). Notes on food habits of the Black and White Owl. Condor. 94(2): 529–531. Close , 29 Gerhardt, R.P., Gerhardt, D.M., Flatten, C.J. and Bonilla, N. (1994). The food habits of sympatric Ciccaba owls in northern Guatemala. J. Field Orn.. 65(2): 258–264. Close ). Frogs and small birds also are taken occasionally (28 Ibáñez, C., Ramo, C. and Busto, B. (1992). Notes on food habits of the Black and White Owl. Condor. 94(2): 529–531. Close , 30 Sandoval, L., E. Biamonte, and A. Solano-Ugalde (2008) Previously unknown food items in the diet of six Neotropical bird species. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 120: 214–216. Close ); birds reported in the diet of the Black-and-white Owl include Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), a thrush (Turdus sp.), Burnished-buff Tanager (Stilpnia cayana), Blue-gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus), Silver-beaked Tanager (Ramphocelus carbo), and a seedeater (Sporophila sp.) (28 Ibáñez, C., Ramo, C. and Busto, B. (1992). Notes on food habits of the Black and White Owl. Condor. 94(2): 529–531. Close , 30 Sandoval, L., E. Biamonte, and A. Solano-Ugalde (2008) Previously unknown food items in the diet of six Neotropical bird species. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 120: 214–216. Close ).