Conocimientos populares y actitudes sobre los búhos en la parroquia Malacatos del cantón Loja

Abstract

Worldwide, poor knowledge about owls has been a danger to this group of species since the myths that revolve around these birds. In Ecuador there are significant gaps in information about the cultural and popular knowledge of owls and owls. It is for this reason that the present work seeks to explore the knowledge, perceptions and attitudes that people have about these birds. To do this, through a stratified sampling by ages, 375 surveys were applied to the residents of the Malacatos parish, province of Loja. The results indicate that the majority of respondents possess a basic knowledge of owls that includes their identification as birds, their songs and the places where they live. In addition, the results suggest that owls are perceived as birds of ill omen (bad omen) and that the attitudes of people, when they see or hear an owl or owl, are fear or fear. Finally, a tendency was found among respondents to indicate that owls are important for the environment.