Owls are beautiful, mysterious creatures. One of the more interesting facts about them is that they create pellets of undigested food. Since owls do not have teeth, they cannot chew their food. What they consume is generally obtained by ripping the food into smaller pieces, then swallowing the items whole. These items can include bones and other non-digestible material. Hours after the owl has finished eating, it will regurgitate the food that remains undigested into pellets.

How to Identify Owl Pellets

An owl will typically regurgitate pellets where it frequents. Most likely, this could be a favorite roost. Search for an owl in wooded areas by using binoculars to look into trees. It is easier to find owl pellets when they are created by larger owls, such as the Great Horned Owl or the Barred Owl. Once you have spotted an owl, look on the ground underneath it to find the pellets. Usually, if you find one pellet there will be others in the same area. To identify owl pellets, look for items that are brown or gray in color and resemble stool. Pellets can often look like compressed fur mixed with white objects, which are bones. Since owls cannot chew, the bones of the rodents they eat are often still intact within the pellet. Bones often found in pellets include hips, skulls, ribs, vertebrae and shoulder blades. The best time to search for owl pellets is during the winter, as the pellets will stand out against the white background. During the other months, the pellets can easily be lost in grass, sticks, leaves and other debris that is on the ground. Another way to identify an owl pellet is to dissect the object in which you believe to be an owl pellet. It is important to wear gloves when dissecting and handling owl pellets as they may contain salmonella and other bacteria. To dissect a potential owl pellet, you will need tweezers, needles or forceps; warm water if the pellet is hard; a magnifying glass and bowls or paper to separate the contents. Carefully pull apart the object and look for tiny bones and fur. If the potential pellet is hard, try soaking it in the water to soften it. If you do find fur that looks compressed, along with tiny bones, it is likely that you have an owl pellet. It may also be helpful to use a bone chart to identify what type of animal the bones may belong to. If your pellet contains many bones, it may even be possible to reconstruct the skeleton of the rodent.

Source:

The Owl Pages: Digestion in Owls

KidWings: Owl Pellets