The tawny owl (Swedish: kattuggla; Strix aluco) is one of our most common top predators occurring in a range of landscapes including urban, agricultural and forest habitats. As a nocturnal animal, we still understand little about the species’ behaviour. We have deployed GPS loggers on breeding tawny owls over five years to collect data on movement and foraging ecology. There are several potential projects including:
- How do movement and foraging behaviours vary between females and males and in relation to brood size, sex ratio and/or condition?
- How do movement and foraging behaviours vary with habitat type?
- How do movement and foraging behaviours vary with prey choice?
The project will primarily involve processing and analysing movement data in R. The project would thus suit a student with a strong motivation to become highly competent in R programming. There is the possibility to combine other data collection methods, including analysing diet from nest contents and nestbox cameras or molecular sexing of chicks in the lab. The student will be have the opportunity to engage in research group meetings and discussions.
Contact Hannah Watson for more details: hannah.watson@biol.lu.se
Suggested reading:
Sunde et al. 2003. Reversed sexual dimorphism in tawny owls, Strix aluco, correlates with duty division in breeding effort. Oikos. 10.1034/j.1600-0706.2003.12203.x
Massa et al. 2015. Using GPS tracking to determine movement patterns and foraging habitat selection of the common Barn-owl (Tyto alba). El Hornero.