Adult Scops Owl Otus scops. Picture by S. Fasano

Results

Forty Scops Owls were captured during 24 days of banding, with an average capture rate of 1.67 owls/day (go to Table 1 for details).

The observed capture rate was found to be 16-28 times higher than the average capture rate reported for Italy in the same periods (see Table 2).

This experimental experience showed that it is possible to capture and band quite a number of owls with limited effort.

For instance, in April-May 2003 19 Scops Owls, representing 10-20 percent of the Scops Owls banded in Italy in a year, were captured in just five days of mist-netting.

Proceed to methods