What is an Owl Pellet?
In this program, students identify an owl pellet's contents and practice recording and analyzing the data.
When Blue Ridge Discovery Center brings this program to the fourth-grade students of Grayson County, they always ask, "What is an Owl Pellet". We are always excited to share what it is! Of course, after we describe what it is, there is unanimous, "Ewh, gross", and the gag reflex response. We hand out the little foil packs to each student and tell them we are going to dissect it and see what we can find inside. This really sends them through the roof! But it never fails that every student digs into that pellet with gusto. The clamor around the room is wonderful as they exclaim, "Look what I found!", "What is this from?", and "I see teeth!" The Barn owl swallows their food whole, so it is not uncommon to find entire skeletons within the pellets.
In this program, students identify an owl pellet's contents and practice recording and analyzing the data. They are all given tools for use during dissection and a bone identification chart to help determine the species of animal consumed. This aids in the understanding of the food chain of birds of prey, the Barn owl in particular. It shows the relationship between producers (plants) and consumers (animals that eat the plants or that eat other animals). This hands-on program brings scientific investigation into the classroom!
The Power of Owl Pellets
During the first week of November, Grayson County 4-H and BRDC teamed up to bring all of the 4th graders across Grayson County our famous owl pellet program.
It always begins with ew, yuck and gross, because the idea of dissecting something that was once inside a living bird, summons visions of poop or puke. We explain that an owl pellet is similar to a fur ball your house cat occasionally coughs up.
During the first week of November, Grayson County 4-H and BRDC teamed up to bring all of the 4th graders across Grayson County our famous owl pellet program.
It always begins with ew, yuck and gross, because the idea of dissecting something that was once inside a living bird, summons visions of poop or puke. We explain that an owl pellet is similar to a fur ball your house cat occasionally coughs up. Basically, owls (and other raptors) avoid passing bones and hair through their digestive system by separating those parts out prior to swallowing the juicier bits. Yum.
We work with barn owl pellets due to the general ease of collecting them. Barn owls, true to their common name, like to roost and nest in barns, where they leave their neatly packaged pellets on the barn floor for us to find. Then we take them home, wrap them in tinfoil and sterilize them at high heat in our kitchen ovens.
After overcoming their initial disgust, kids are instructed to dig in, break the pellets apart, and start poking around. We explain that this exercise is similar to archeology and forensic science. Our students use similar tools: tweezers, oversized tooth picks, small brushes and magnifying glasses. Each pellet comes with a chart that first lists the possible skulls they will find (rodent, shrew, mole and bird). After identifying which skull or skulls are contained within, they can then begin the task of identifying the smaller bones found under each skull on the chart. There is always a decent chance that more than one species of owl lunch will be found in a single pellet. By this time, the kids are completely engaged.
We also take time to talk about the barn owl’s life history, sharing pictures of this nocturnal majesty, and discuss more generally the habits of owls and which ones live in our Blue Ridge Region. We compare the call recordings of owls, and look at real owl skulls, talons and wings. It’s a pretty exciting owl hour for all, and the kids do not want it to end.
Many thanks to our 4-H leader, Erin Cox, and her enthusiastic interest in sharing this program with BRDC.
A beautiful day at Hungry Mother State Park Birding Adventure Weekend!
BRDC set up shop at Hungry Mother State Park this past weekend where we shared our traveling booth of wonders with visitors. Area youth dissected owl pellets and studied raptor wings, skulls and talons. While tending our booth we got to scope birds on the lake including, pied-billed grebe, red-breasted mergansers and eastern kingbirds.
BRDC set up shop at Hungry Mother State Park this past weekend for their Birding Adventure Weekend, where we shared our traveling booth of wonders with visitors. Area youth dissected owl pellets and studied our collection of raptor wings, skulls and talons. While tending our booth we got to scope birds on the lake including, pied-billed grebe, red-breasted mergansers and eastern kingbirds.
