Barn Owl Tyto alba

• Barn Owls specialize in hunting small ground mammals, and the vast majority of their food consists of small rodents. Voles (field mice) are an important food item, as well as pocket gophers, shrews, mice and rats.

• Other prey may include baby rabbits, bats, frogs, lizards, birds and insects.

Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus

• An extremely wide range of prey species (over 250 identified) are captured, but rabbits and hares are its preferred prey.

• Mammalian prey includes all coexisting rodents, squirrels, mink, skunks, raccoons, armadillos, porcupines, shrews, moles, muskrats, and bats.

• They may sometimes take small domestic dogs and cats. Bird prey includes all other Owls (except Snowy Owl), grouse, woodpeckers, crows, turkeys, pigeons, Red-tailed Hawks, bitterns, Great Blue Heron, ducks, swans, gulls, etc.

• Reptiles include snakes, turtles, lizards, and young alligators. Amphibians include frogs, toads, and salamanders. Other foods include fish, large insects, scorpions, centipedes, crayfish, worms,

spiders, and road killed animals.

Eastern Screech Owl Megascops asio

• An extremely wide range of prey species is captured, the most favored being small rodents and mice.

• Other mammals taken include rats, chipmunks, squirrels, shrews, bats, and moles.

• Large flying insects are also taken. Birds including many species of small songbirds.

Moles have cylindrical

bodies covered in fur, with small or covered eyes;

the ears are generally not

visible. They eat small

invertebrate animals (earth worms) living underground.

Moles

A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse. Depending on the species, the vole's diet consists of seeds, tubers, conifers needles,

bark, various green vegetation such as grass and clover,

and insects.

Voles

Shrews are terrestrial

creatures that forage for

seeds, insects, nuts, worms and

a variety of other foods in

leaf litter. Shrews have feet with five clawed toes,

unlike rodents, which have four.

Shrews

Rats are various medium sized, long-tailed rodents. Rats are distinguished from mice by their size; rats generally have bodies longer than 12 cm (5 in). Rats in the wild forage on small

fruits, nuts, seeds, and insects but will

eat just about anything.

Rats

Mice are various small sized, long-

tailed rodents. Mice are generally under

12 cm in length. Mice in the wild forage on small fruits, nuts, and

seeds, but will eat just about anything.

Mice

References

• Pictures and info courtesy of :

http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?location=North+America