The Guide to Discoveries

of an Owl PelletBy : Sophia PereiraPeriod: 9Code: 15

Contents: Introduction slide 3Materials slide 4Procedure slide 5Example slide 6Prey Pictures slide 7Data Tables slide 8Bar Graphs slide 9 & Slide 10 Owl Food Web slide 11Conclusion slide 12

INTRODUCTION An owl pellet is one of the most fascinating things

about an owl. In this adventure we will investigate an owl pellet. The owl pellet we will be using comes from a barn owl. Barn owls have thick feathers to absorb any sound for a silent flight. They can turn their head 270° since they can’t move their eyes in their sockets and owls are nocturnal. Owls are carnivores, they use their keen sense of sight to find prey in the dark. They have an acute sense of hearing which also helps in finding meals. Owls are stealth hunters, they can easily sneak up on their prey with their sharp talons.

Owl pellets are masses of bone, teeth, hair, feathers and exoskeletons of various animals preyed upon by raptors, or birds of prey. Since owl do not have any teeth, they eat their pray whole or by pieces. After an owl swallows its meal, it travels down the esophagus, then through the proventriculus, and finally into the gizzard. In the gizzard, the meal is separated. The parts that are not digestible go in the pellet. After the pellet is formed, the owl regurgitates the pellet.

Materials

Owl Pellet Toothpick or Tweezers Sheet of paper

PROCEDURE

1. Split the owl pellet into two pieces over a sheet of paper

2. Take half of the owl pellet and thoroughly search the pellet for bones (you may use tweezers or a toothpick)

3. Split the bones from the hair, fur, and feathers

4. Take the other half of the pellet and follow steps 2 & 3 again

5. Once done, define what and how much prey you have

6. Finally, fill in the data tables

Example

In this pellet, there were four voles. You can distinguish a vole by their teeth. Voles have two enormous front teeth and then a gap between the rest of the teeth.

A Vole

Prey animal found Number of each Non-prey items found

A Vole 4None- -

- -

--

Animal Vole Pocket Gopher

Mouse Shrew Rat Bird Mole Total

# found 54 3 2 - - - - 59

Percent 92% 5% 3% 0% 0% 0% 0% 100%

Prey Animals per pellet

1 2 3 4 5 6 ≥7Total #

of pellets in class

Total # prey animals in

class

#students w/ea amt. of prey animal

0 8 6 5 1 0 0 20 59

Percent 0% 40% 30% 25% 5% 0% 0%100%

Average number of prey animals per pellet (mean)

Number of prey animals contained by most pellets (mode)

Lowest to highest number of prey animals in one pellet (range)

3 2 and 3 1-5

Data Tables

1 p

ell

et

Cla

ss r

oom

of

pellets

Cla

ss r

oom

of

pell

ets

Wh

ole

6th

gra

de

1 2 3 4 5 6 >70

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Number of Pray Animals per Pellet

Prey Animals per Pellet

#st

udents

w/e

a a

mt.

of

pre

y a

nim

al

vole

pock

et g

ophe

r

mou

se

shre

w rat

bird

mol

e0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Types of Prey Animals found in Owl Pellets

# f

ou

nd

Type of Animal

Conclusion

Owl pellet with four voles inside.

Scientists study owl pellets to learn about what an owl eats, how it eats it, where it lives, and there diet patterns. With the information on slide 8, a barn owl will consume about 14 animals a week which is about 728 animals on a year. The most common animal found in a pellet is a vole. So, an owl will live in an environment full of voles or an environment fit for voles. We also know that owls eat the whole animal because an owl pellet is produced. In conclusion, there are million things to discover about an owl pellet.