Microplastic in an apex predator: evidence from Barn owl (Tyto alba) pellets in two sites with different levels of anthropization.

Plastic pollution in terrestrial and freshwater environments and its accumulation along food chains has been poorly studied in birds. The Barn owl (Tyto alba) is an opportunistic and nocturnal apex predator feeding mostly on small mammals. In this note, we reported evidence of microplastics (MPs) contamination in Barn owl pellets collected, for the first time, in two sites with different levels of anthropization (low: natural landscape mosaic vs.