Abstract

Owl perches of various designs are used in different parts of Tamil Nadu for rodent management. Efficacy of one such owl perch was tested in the rice fields by counting the number of live rat burrows, 30 days after erection of perches and at weekly intervals thereafter in fields with and without owl perches. The owl perch was made of wooden rod (2-3m long) with a ball of straw in the top. These were pegged at random, mostly near the bunds at the rate of 45 per ha from the booting to harvesting stages of rice crop. Ther perches helped the owls, mostly the Barn Owl. Tyto alba (Scopoli) and the Spotted Owlet, Athene brama (Temuninck) to hunt rats effectively. In fields with owl perches, there was no increase in the number of live burrows and in fields without perches, there was rapid increase in the number of live burrows. Rice yield from fields with owl perches was two times more than that from fields without perches. When owl perches were removed after a time, dramatic increase in the number of rat burrows was observed. The perches were used by the King Crow, Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein) during day time for perching and they hunted the flying insects.

Keywords: Rodent Management, Owl Perches, Barn Owl, Rice Ecosystem