Used
with permission from Dick Watling from “Birds of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa”
and “Birds of Fiji and Western Polynesia” (Pacificbirds.com).
Chickens and fruit bats (pe'a) are too heavy for an owl to carry and too
large to swallow whole. Instead, they would typically eat the meat and viscera
at the site of the kill. Soft tissues such as these would be totally digested
and not be found in pellets. We have other evidence that one flying fox was killed
and partially eaten by an owl.
Even though lulu occasionally take
a bird, bat or even a chicken, their value in controlling rat
populations
is tremendous. One pair of owls may catch 2-4 rats per day. Without owls, Tutuila
and
Manu'a would probably be over-run with rats. A lulu seen flying
through a village should not be feared
or hated but welcomed, because it will
probably mean one less rat near your fale.
Owls
are carnivores that usually swallow their prey whole. A few hours after swallowing
a rat (isumu) or some other prey, owls regurgitate or spit out a pellet
of indigestible bones and hair about two inches long and one inch in diameter.
By examining these pellets, we can determine what the lulu eats. In the
remains of 482 meals, rats made up most (81%) of those meals, followed by mice
(9%), geckos (7%), and bones of a few birds (2%), which consisted of White Terns
(manu sina), Wattled Honeyeaters (iao), mynas, and Samoan Starlings
(fuia).
No chicken remains were found, but this was not unexpected
because owls do not generally attack large prey.
The
barn owl or lulu is a highly beneficial bird in American Samoa, but some
people fear it because they associate it with ghosts or aitu. Its ghostly
white appearance and its preference for flying at night enhance its reputation
as a mysterious bird. It is not uncommon when driving around Tutuila at night
to see one perched on a telephone pole or gliding across the road. Its eerie screech
pierces the night and can be frightening if you are not expecting it.
44. Barn owls (lulu)
-- spirit of the night
