Fossil evidence indicates that owls have been preying on bats from as far back as the Pleistocene. Overall, bats form quite small portions (i.e. trace to 0.2%) of the diets (by prey frequency) of European owls. An assessment of dietary studies and anecdotal accounts reveals that five species of European owls, the Eurasian scops owl Otus scops, Pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum, Tengmalm’s owl Aegolius funereus, little owl Athene noctua and Ural owl Strix uralensis, rarely feed on bats (with less than 0.1−0.4%) and a further two species, short-eared owl Asio flammeus and eagle owl Bubo bubo, may only take bats occasionally, while three species, long-eared owl Asio otus, barn owl Tyto alba and tawny owl Strix aluco, feed on bats more frequently. In this study, a total of 19,864 recorded bats have been preyed upon by these owls, with as many as 48 bat species being identified. Barn and tawny owls have captured most of this total (47.1 and 41.9%), followed by the long-eared owl (7.6%), while short-eared and eagle owls take similar amounts of bats (1.1 and 1.7%, respectively). Owl predation on bats deserves future research because it may help contribute to our knowledge on bat biodiversity and distribution and possibly identify an additional risk for small populations of endangered bats.
Part of the book: Owls
Belief systems of people have always been closely related to animals, which are symbolized in traditional narratives. Sociocultural definitions of animals as “good or evil” have persisted throughout the history of human beings. In the West, bats are often perceived as evil spirits, Vampires, and harbingers of death, while some cultures across the Asia-Pacific region associate bats with good fortune. Here, we review documented narratives and surveys from around the world and our ethnographic observations from Europe to analyze beliefs associated with bats. We explore the role that bats play in traditional narratives and the likely reasons for their salience, including their connections with the extraordinary and supernatural. Finally, we discuss shortly the need of education to change attitudes toward bats. In North America, education has had some effect as more people have started to understand how useful bats truly are and how few cases of bat-born rabies transmission to humans there have been in the United States and Canada. It remains to be seen, however, how effectively the further education efforts could halt or even reverse the decline of the bats around the world. It is also noted that bat tourism has a potential to conserve bat populations while providing social and economic benefits to local people in host communities.
Part of the book: Bats
Owls are the only truly nocturnal avian raptors and have evolved several unique adaptations to perfectly fill this role. For example, their unique large tubular eyes, packed with light-sensitive cells, enable owls to operate in almost total darkness, while their remarkable auditory system allows them to operate in complete darkness. This unique and complex auditory system is a combination of specialised feathers forming a parabolic facial disc, adjustable operculum, or flaps and, in some species, asymmetrical ear openings. This unique system allows the owl’s brain to construct an auditory map of space when locating its prey. As remarkable as it seems, this is tantamount to owls being able to hear in 3D. While there are minor variations in the individual physiology between certain species due to the type of prey they take and the habitat they operate in, all owls are subject to the same unique adaptations in eyes, hearing, head rotation, feather structure, digestive system, and hind limb musculature. In this study, we examine each individual adaptation that combines to make the owl a superbly designed nocturnal predator and also look at some shared mechanisms and behaviour patterns that are crucial to its survival.
Part of the book: Owls