Dissecting a Barn Owl Pellet

Having found what I identified as a Barn Owl Pellet in my storage stable and was faced with a wet afternoon so I decided to have a go at dissecting the pellet using one of our Guides to British Owls and Owl Pellets for reference.

Barn Owl Pellet

I got set up with the kit I needed: Magnifying glass, camera, tweezers, gloves and our Cotswold Nature’s Guide to British Owls and Owl Pellets.

Dissecting Kit

So, what are owl pellets? When an owl catches its prey it is eaten whole. The digestive juices of the owl's stomach then breaks down all the soft bits. This then leaves all the hard indigestible bits such as fur and bones to be packed up into a pellet which is then regurgitated through the owls mouth.

I first soaked the pellet in water with a few drops of disinfectant to make is easier to dissect. Amongst all the tightly packed fur I came across lots of small mammal rib bones and then things got more interesting when I uncovered a small mammal skull and some jaw bones. Using the guide I could easily identify these bones belonged to a Field Vole.

In total this barn owl pellet contained 2 Field Voles and 1 Common Shrew. Barn owl pellets can contain the remains of 3-4 small mammals.

I could easily identify the jaw bones of the shrew as the teeth were clearly tipped red. Shrew’s teeth contain iron in the enamel; this not only turns them red but makes them strong and resistant to wear. Shrews can eat their body weight in insects and worms in a day. They therefore need really strong teeth to devour all this food whilst not wearing their teeth away.

Red Tipped Teeth of the Common Shrew

It was great fun and really interesting to dissect the Barn Owl pellet its a great activity for adults and kids at home or nature groups such as scout or guide groups. So, if you spot an owl pellet whilst out and about in the countryside on a fence post or under a roosting place in a barn or tree, collect it and take it apart using one of our Guides to British Owls and Owl Pellets £2.95 from our online nature shop.

The BTO’s National Nest Box Week 2011

The BTO’s NNBW takes place each year from 14-21 February

The British Trust of Ornithology have been running a scheme called National Nest Box week since 2007 to encourage people to put up nest boxes in their gardens or green spaces.To date 20,000 nest boxes have been put up thanks to the scheme.

To take part you just need the put up a nest box then register it with the BTO along with observing any activity around the box.

To join in this fab scheme find more information @ http://www.bto.org/nnbw/monitor.htm

Need a nest box? We stock the official nest box for National Nest Box Week.

The Official Bird Box of National Nest Box Week – Supported by Simon King. Available now for £19.00 from our online shop http://www.cotswoldnature.com/shop/nest-boxes/jacobi-jayne-cedar-plus-nest-box

Stroud Festival of Nature

We had a fantastic day out on Saturday at the Stroud Festival of Nature one of the BBC's Springwatch FREE Wild Days Out to mark the UN International Year of Biodiversity in 2010.

The One Show's wildlife presenter Mike Dilger was there, along with loads of conservation organisations such as Butterfly Conservation and The Wildlife Trusts.

There were loads of activities for adults and kids such as guided wildlife walks, pond dipping and nest box building.

We had a stall there and had a great time chatting to customers and advising them on how to attract more wildlife to their gardens and about our local wildlife. Everyone really liked our products especially our laminated wildlife field guides and kid's wildlife discovery packs.

April 2010

Cotswold Nature will be launching its new website soon!