Owl Pellets
Last Review/Updated: May 31, 2002
Like
all birds, owls have no teeth to chew their food. Their food is usually
swallowed whole, or in large chunks. In the stomach, the indigestible
bones, fur and insect exoskeletons are formed into oval-shaped masses,
called pellets. These pellets cannot be passed out the digestive tract,
and are instead passed back up through the mouth (regurgitated) as
the bird roosts during the day. Hundreds of owl pellets may be found
under a perch or nest.
Biologists learn much about an owl's diet by examining its pellets. The kinds of animals eaten can be identified by the skulls, other bones and hair present in the pellets. Such studies provide information about changes in feeding habits that occur from one season to the next, as well as some of the species of small animals that live in an owl's habitat. Fossilized pellets have been used to identify food eaten by the now extinct great barn owl.
