The importance of visual markings in night birds. The case of the Eagle Owl, Bubo bubo

Vincenzo Penteriani; Maria Del Mar Delgado; Paola Bartolommei

doi:10.4081/rio.2012.108

The importance of visual markings in night birds. The case of the Eagle Owl, Bubo bubo

https://doi.org/10.4081/rio.2012.108

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Vol. 82 No. 1-2 (2012)

Submitted: 3 October 2014
Accepted: 3 October 2014

Published: 30 September 2012

Achromatic colours, animal communication, Eagle Owl, visual cues.

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Authors

Vincenzo Penteriani
penteriani@ebd.csic.es
Dipartimento di Biologia della Conservazione, Estación Biológica de Doñana, C.S.I.C., Siviglia, Spain.
Maria Del Mar Delgado Dipartimento di Biologia della Conservazione, Estación Biológica de Doñana, C.S.I.C., Siviglia, Spain.
Paola Bartolommei Sezione di Ecologia Comportamentale, Etologia e Gestione della Fauna, Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali “G. Sarfatti”, Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena, Italy.

This work brings together the results of a series of researches on the importance of the visual communication for nocturnal birds, carried out using the Eagle Owl as a model species. We analysed the main characteristics of the white feathers of the adults and the offspring and we tested the function of the achromatic plumage in territorial behaviour and parental care. Furthermore, by means of radio-tracking, we monitored the hunting activity of the Eagle Owl and, by analysing the white tail of its main prey - the Rabbit - we highlighted the possible role of the visual communication for nocturnal birds also in the contest of the predator-prey interactions.

Penteriani, V., Del Mar Delgado, M., & Bartolommei, P. (2012). The importance of visual markings in night birds. The case of the Eagle Owl, Bubo bubo. Rivista Italiana Di Ornitologia, 82(1-2). https://doi.org/10.4081/rio.2012.108