Sunday, February 17, 2013
Auditorium/Exhibit Hall C (Hynes Convention Center)
Indigestible material is regurgitated in about 320 species of birds in 67 families, and birds of prey regularly regurgitate mucous-covered pellets with bones, fur, feathers, chitin and scale remains of prey. The objective of this study was to investigate the ecological succession on Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) pellets. Pellets from laboratory Great Horned Owls fed rats (Rattus norvegicus) and pigeons (Columba livia) were dried, placed in plastic mesh bags, and frozen. All were then set out in maple-oak hardwoods and in spruce sites in July in central New York. Six pellets were collected every eight days from each site for four months. Observed fungi were cultured individually and invertebrates were extracted using modified Tullgren funnels. Fourteen species of fungi were isolated, and 7,502 invertebrates were found on 150 pellets. 145 invertebrate species occurred on pellets in the hardwoods site; 128 invertebrate species occurred on pellets in the spruce site. Pellet decomposition involves three fungal successional stages - sugar fungi, keratinophilic fungi, and keratinolytic fungi, and three invertebrate successional stages - fresh, dry, and bones.