Effectiveness of Barn Owl Nest Boxes (Rubuha) in Suppressing Rice Field Rat (Rattus argentiventer Rob. & Kloss) Infestation in Juwiring District, Klaten, Indonesia
Keywords:
Rice, Rattus argentiventer, Tyto alba, barn owl, active rat burrows, biological controlAbstract
Rice field rats (Rattus argentiventer Rob. & Kloss) are among the most destructive vertebrate pests of irrigated rice in Southeast Asia. Barn owls (Tyto alba javanica) are promoted as biological control agents, yet post-installation evaluations of artificial nest boxes remain scarce. This study assessed the occupancy of 10 nest boxes (rubuha) installed across 12 ha of rice fields in Jaten Village, Juwiring District, Klaten, Central Java, Indonesia. Surveys followed the Barn Owl Survey Methodology from July 2020 to January 2021. Only 2 of 10 nest boxes (20%) showed evidence of barn owl habitation. Data from all 10 nest box coverage zones were analyzed. Mean crop damage intensity surrounding occupied boxes (Positive Nest Sites, PNS; 1.58 ± 0.42%) was significantly lower than surrounding unoccupied boxes (Negative Nest Sites, NNS; 3.21 ± 1.14%). Similarly, mean active burrow density was lower at PNS (8.2 ± 2.1 per transect) than NNS locations (16.4 ± 5.3 per transect). A strong positive correlation between active burrow density and crop damage intensity was observed across all sites (r = 0.879, R² = 0.773, p < 0.01). The low occupancy rate reflects the challenge of natural colonization in open rice landscapes and suggests that supplementary strategies, including captive-bred introductions and habitat enrichment, may be required. Despite limitations, the consistently lower damage near occupied sites supports the potential of barn owl conservation as a component of ecologically sustainable rodent management in tropical rice systems.
References
Agustini, S. (2013). Burung hantu pengendali tikus secara hayati. Bul. Inov. Teknol. Pertan, 1, 48-50.
BPTP Sulteng. 2015. Laporan tahunan balai proteksi tanaman pangan perkebunan peternakan sulawesi tengah.
Ennen, H., Endepols, S., Geduhn, A., Jacob, J., Klemann, N., Schenke, D., Schlötelburg, A., & Walther, B. (2021). Effects of anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning on spatial behavior of farm dwelling Norway rats. The Science of the total environment, 787, 147520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147520.
Eva, J., Marta, H., & Ladislav, C. (2016). Rodent food quality and its relation to crops and other environmental and population parameters in an agricultural landscape. Science of the Total Environment, 562, 164-169. DOI: https://doi.org./10/1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.165.
Gafta, D., Szabó, C., Achille, G., Polini, N., & Canzian, F. (2024). Dietary Shift in a Barn Owl (Tyto alba) Population Following Partial Abandonment of Cultivated Fields (Central Apennine Hills, Italy). Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI, 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14172562.
Hardgrove, E., Zimmerman, D. M., von Fricken, M. E., & Deem, S. (2021). A scoping review of rodent-borne pathogen presence, exposure, and transmission at zoological institutions. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 193, 105345. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2021.105345
Imanadi L. 2012. Burung hantu (Tyto alba) pengendali tikus yang ramah lingkungan. Balai Besar Karantina Pertanian Surabaya. Surabaya
Jiménez, F., Touza, J., García, J., & Moreno, J. (2024). A descriptive study of poisoners and users of other indiscriminate means to illegally control wildlife in Spain. Conservation Science and Practice, 6. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13194.
Labuschagne, L., Swanepoel, L. H., Taylor, P. J., Belmain, S. R., & Keith, M. (2016). Are avian predators effective biological control agents for rodent pest management in agricultural systems?. Biological Control, 101, 94-102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2016.07.003.
Milana, G., Battisti, C., Luiselli, L., & Amori, G. (2019). Altitudinal variation of community metrics in Italian small mammal assemblages as revealed by Barn Owl (Tyto alba) pellets. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 281, 11-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2019.05.001
Milliet, E., Schalcher, K., Grangier‐Bijou, A., Butera, F., Almasi, B., & Roulin, A. (2024). Barn owl site occupancy and breeding success in relation to land use and nest box characteristics. The Journal of Wildlife Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22678.
Nicolaou, H., Aviel, S., Leshem, Y., Rashid, M., Christou, A., Roulin, A., Cain, S., Bloch, I., Kassinis, N., Spiegel, O., Bahdouhesh, M., Cherkaoui, S., Bontzorlos, V., Apostolidou, M., & Motro, Y. (2024). Barn Owls as a Nature-Based Solution for Pest Control: A Multinational Initiative Around the Mediterranean and Other Regions. Conservation. https://doi.org/10.3390/conservation4040039.
Zainal Abidin, C. M. R., Mohd Noor, H., Hamid, N. H., Ravindran, S., Puan, C. L., Kasim, A., & Salim, H. (2021). Comparison of effectiveness of introduced barn owls, Tyto javanica javanica, and rodenticide treatments on rat control in oil palm plantations. Journal of Pest Science, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-021-01423-x.
Puspitasari, N., Hamdani, H., Hatta, H. R., Septiarini, A., & Wati, M. (2021, December). Detection pests system for local mayas rice plant east kalimantan using dempster shafer. In 2021 4th International Seminar on Research of Information Technology and Intelligent Systems (ISRITI) (pp. 138-143). IEEE.
Rajagukguk, B. H. (2014). Pemanfaatan burung hantu (Tyto alba) untuk pengendalian hama tikus di perkebunan kelapa sawit. Jurnal Saintech, 6(4), 1-7.
BPS Klaten. (2013). Klaten Regency in figures 2013. Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Klaten..
Rocha, C. R., Ribeiro, R., & Marinho-Filho, J. (2017). Influence of temporal variation and seasonality on population dynamics of three sympatric rodents. Mammalian Biology, 84, 20-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2017.01.001.
Roulin, A., Schalcher, K., Butera, F., Milliet, E., Almasi, B., & Grangier‐Bijou, A. (2024). The effects of land use changes on site occupancy and breeding success of the barn owl (Tyto alba) from 1993 to 2020. Global Ecology and Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e02988.
Partasasmita, R., Muhammad, G. I., & Iskandar, J. (2015, October). Population, occupational and public knowledge about barn owl birds (Tyto alba javanica JF Gmelin 1788) at Padjadjaran University Campus of Jatinangor, Sumedang District. In Prosiding Seminar Nasional Masyarakat Biodiversitas Indonesia (Vol. 1, No. 7, pp. 1570-1576). DOI: 10.13057/psnmbi/m010705
Walther, B., Geduhn, A., Schenke, D., Schloetelburg, A., & Jacob, J. (2021). Baiting location affects anticoagulant rodenticide exposure of non‐target small mammals on farms. Pest Management Science, 77(2), 611-619. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.5987.
Shawyer, C. R. (2011). Barn owl Tyto alba. Survey Methodology and Techniques for use in Ecological Methods: Developing Best Practice in Survey and Reporting. Winchester: IEEM.
Siburat, S., Vui, P., , S., Fitriana, C., Primananda, S., & Prasetyo, A. (2024). The Evaluation of a Decade Barn Owl (Tyto alba) Introduction in Oil Palm Plantations Central Kalimantan. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1308. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1308/1/012019.
Sudarmaji, & Herawati, N. A. (2018, August). Breeding ecology of the rice field rat (Rattus argentiventer Rob & Kloss, 1916) in irrigated rice ecosystem in Indonesia. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2002, No. 1, p. 020058). AIP Publishing LLC. DOI: 10.1063/1.5050154.p.020058-1-8.
Sudarmaji, & Herawati, N. A. (2018, August). Breeding ecology of the rice field rat (Rattus argentiventer Rob & Kloss, 1916) in irrigated rice ecosystem in Indonesia. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2002, No. 1, p. 020058). AIP Publishing LLC. DOI: https://doi.org 10.1063/1.5050154. p.020058-1-8.
Sudarmaji, & Pustika, A. B. (2018). Non-chemical rats control in lowland irrigated rice ecosystem in Indonesia. Proceedings of the International Conference on Organic Agriculture in the Tropics, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, 749–756.
Sudarmaji, & Anggara, A. W. (2008). Perkembangan populasi tikus sawah (Rattus argentiventer) dan pengaruhnya terhadap tingkat kerusakan tanaman padi. Seminar Nasional Padi 2008, Balai Besar Penelitian Tanaman Padi, 10 pages.
Sudarmaji, Pustika, A. R., Yolanda, Y., Pujiastuti, E., Martini, T., & Stuart, A. (2021). The occupancy of barn owl in the artificial nest box to control rice field rats in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Jurnal Agro Saintek, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.18196/pt.v9i2.10893
Sudarmaji, Singleton, G. R., Brown, P. R., Jacob, J., & Herawati, N. A. (2010). Rodent impacts in lowland irrigated intensive rice systems in West Java, Indonesia. In G. R. Singleton et al. (Eds.), Rodent outbreaks: Ecology and impacts (pp. 115–137). IRRI.
Sukmawati, N. M. S., Siti, N. W., & Candraasih, K. N. N. (2013). Pengembangan burung hantu (Tyto alba) sebagai pengendali hama tikus di Desa Babahan dan Senganan, Penebel, Tabanan, Bali. Buletin Udayana Mengabdi, 16(1), 92–97.
Supriyadi, S. N., Yanuartono, O. P. A., & Suparni, S. R. (2019). Penerapan teknologi pengendalian hama tikus di Desa Jaten, Kecamatan Juwiring, Kabupaten Klaten. Senadimas UNISRI.
Radchuk, V., Ims, R. A., & Andreassen, H. P. (2016). From individuals to population cycles: The role of extrinsic and intrinsic factors in rodent populations. Ecology, 97(3), 720–732.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Plantae Protecta
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The Plantae Protecta publishes all of its content under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (CC BY-NC 4.0). This means that all articles published with open access are immediately and permanently free for everyone to read, download, copy, and distribute according to the applied license.
Free access and usage
The CC BY-NC 4.0 license permits third-party reuse of articles under the following conditions.
- This license allows users to copy and distribute the article as long as it is not for commercial purposes and remains unchanged and unedited during distribution.
- Users are required to give proper credit (including a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI) and provide a link to the license, with the strict condition that they refrain from implying any endorsement by the licensor for either the user or the use of the work.
To find the full license details, please check at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
