What is a Barn Owl Pellet?

A pellet, in ornithology, is the mass of undigested parts of a bird's food that some bird species occasionally regurgitate. The contents of a bird's pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestable plant matter, bones, fur, feathers, bills, claws, and teeth. In falconry, the pellet is called a casting. The passing of pellets allows a bird to remove indigestable material from its proventriculus, or glandular stomach. In birds of prey, the regurgitation of pellets serves the bird's health in another way, by "scouring" parts of the digestive tract, including the gullet. Pellets are formed within six to ten hours of a meal in the bird's gizzard (muscular stomach).
Ornithologists may collect and analyze one species' pellets over a span of time to provide information on the seasonal variation in its eating habits. One advantage of collecting pellets is that it allows for the determination of diet without the killing and dissection of the bird. Pellets are found in different locations, depending on the species. In general, roosting and nesting sites are good places to look: for most hawks and owls, under coniferous trees; for Barn Owls, at the bases of cliffs or in barns and silos; for yet other species of owls, at their burrows or in marsh and field grasses. Hawk and owl pellets are grey or brown, and range in shape from spherical to oblong or plug-shaped. In large birds, they are one to two inches long, and in songbirds, about half an inch. They are found in many other species, including grebes, herons, cormorants, gulls, terns , kingfishers, crows, jays , dippers, shrikes, swallows, and most shorebirds. Ornithologists examining pellets have discovered unusual items in them-even bird bands that were once attached to a smaller species that was consumed by the predator bird. In the United States, screech owl pellets have contained bands from a Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, and American Goldfinch. In 1966, a Golden Eagle pellet in Oregon was found to contain a band placed on an American Wigeon four months earlier, and 1600 km (1000 miles) away in southern California. (compliments of Wikipedia)

Friday, January 25, 2008

Commonly Asked Questions About Dissecting Owl Pellets

This blog is dedicated to answering some of the basic questions and providing valuable information about the subject of Barn Owl Pellets.

Common questions include:

What type of owl produces a pellet?
All owls produce a pellet of some shape or measure. Some owls ingest their prey whole while others tear the meat from the bones of their prey, more similar to other birds of prey.
Why is the Barn Owl pellet used for dissection?
The Barn Owl Pellet is used for dissection because of two things: 1) the Barn Owl swallows the entire prey, and 2) the digestive system of the owl produces an enzyme that coats the pellet which "packages" it for a nice long shelf life.
Do people dissect other Bird Pellets?
Other bird pellets are very valuable for dissection. Crows and Raven pellets include a wide variety of exoskeletons, grains, garbage and material while a Horned Owl Pellet includes the broken bones of their prey, producing a chalky pellet.
Why would I dissect a Horned Owl Pellet?
Dissecting Horned Owl Pellets is fascinating in that they consume small and large prey. It is common to find both voles and rabbits in their pellet. They are more difficult to identify prey because the bones are often crushed during the digestion process.
Are Owl Pellets Safe to handle?
It is important to purchase owl pellets from reliable sources of retailers who sterilize pellets in accordance with the national safety standards. Companies like Carolina Biological, Wards Natural Science, Owl Brand Discovery Kits and Nature-Watch only retail properly sterilized pellets.
What are the risks?
Risks of dissecting Barn Owl Pellets are limited to human error. The documented cases of contamination were a result of a classroom using a lunchroom as a dissection lab. The tables were not properly wiped down before schoolchildren used them to consume their prey, including peanut butter sandwiches, Oreos, and more.
What if I find owl pellets in my backyard?
Pick them up! Write to info@obdk.com and we'll coach you on how to sterilize them.
Do owl pellets keep?
Properly sterilized and stored, owl pellets will last for many months. We recommend putting them in re-sealable plastic bags so that no air or pests gets on them.
My pellets had little worms on them; what is that about?
Pellets that have not been properly heat treated will continue the life cycle of whatever bug or insect is consuming them. The most common is a larvae that hatches and as the larvae mature to adulthood, they consume themselves to the outside of the pellet.
Is that safe?
There are no risks with this exposure. It's just really gross.
How do I get rid of the larvae?
Use them as fishing bait. Okay...seriously, if you heat them in the oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes, your problem will be gone.
What does a pellet look like?
It looks like the image to the right.
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