Habitat Factors Driving Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) Population Growth and Productivity in the Judea Region

Abstract

In Israel, Long-eared Owls (Asio otus) were considered primarily a wintering species with documented sporadic breeding. However, by the turn of the last century, it had become an increasingly numerous breeding species in the northern and central parts of the country. Based on the analysis of nest numbers in the Judea region, we determined that the population increased by at least 22% each year between 2003 and 2008, from 28 known nests in 2003 to 118 in 2008. We believe our study was conducted during the initial years for the Long-eared Owl population expansion in the region. We found that birds nesting in more-urban areas produced fewer offspring per brood than birds in more rural areas. We also found that nestlings from more-urban areas, exposed to artificial light at night, fledged earlier than birds from wild areas. The rapid growth in the numbers of nesting Long-eared Owls in the Judea region was likely due, at least in part, to the species’ adaptation to urban areas.