Abstract
We identified the diet of owlets of the Daito subspecies of the Ryukyu Scops Owl Otus elegans interpositus on Minami-daito Island during late May and early June 2009, by means of high-resolution color photography. Cockroaches were provided by parents to their young at all eight nests studied, and contributed the largest single component of the diet (33%). Orthoptera species, which inhabited open grassland habitats, constituted >20% of the total occurrences in the diet of owlets. It is suggested that Ryukyu Scops Owls depend heavily on food items obtained from habitats that have been modified by human activity on Minami-daito Island. Diets for owlets differed widely among nests, and the differences were considered to result from individual differences among parents and/or the environments surrounding each nest.
