Readers may remember that a recent intake to our Raptor Hospital was a tiny Tawny Owl that was found by a cyclist on the ground. Jess, who runs our Raptor Hospital, took the Owlet home with her to look after overnight, and was surprised a few hours later when it coughed up this huge pellet!
The Tawny Owlet looked much more comfortable after producing this massive pellet!
The whole team was intrigued to find out what this Owlet had been fed on before it fell out of the nest, so Jess brought it in for Education Officer Susan to investigate.
Dolly, who has recently become the newest member of our full time staff, was also interested, and on a rainy afternoon she joined Susan to become a Pellet Detective.
The pellet was rather large!
The pellet measured about 7cm in length, and was quite chunky, so we were excited to see what secrets it held! As Dolly pulled it apart she sorted the fluff into one pile and the bones or other bits of interest into another pile.
All our findings
The first surprise was some beetle wing cases, which were later added to by two beetle legs.
The remains of a beetle
The second surprise was a Common Shrew lower jaw bone. We could identify it as a Shrew by it’s shape and the colour of the teeth. Shrews are insectivores so have lots of sharp and pointy teeth, which are often tinged with red as they absorb the toxins in the insects they feed on. Shrew jaws are also L shaped, with the front incisors sticking straight out the front, whereas other rodent jaws the front incisors curve upwards.
From the size, we know this is a Common Shrew, as it’s about 1cm long. A Pygmy Shrew would be much smaller and a Water Shrew would be much larger!
The biggest surprise was when Dolly said “I think I’ve found some seeds?” As Owls are carnivorous, this was highly unusual and upon closer inspection, Dolly changed her mind and said “it looks like an Armadillo paw?” At this point, Susan couldn’t hide her curiosity any more and went over for a closer look.
”Could it be a mole?” asked Susan.
Using the Guide to British Owls and Owl pellets, produced by the Field Studies Council and the Hawk and Owl Trust, the mass of fluff and tiny bones, with some distinct long white claws on the end certainly looked like a match. And other bones seemed to match this conclusion.
Moles spend their whole lives underground, digging burrows through the soil. For this reason, they have a specialised skeleton which allows them to have flattened bodies but also massive areas for muscles in their front limbs.
Whilst mole remains are sometimes found in Owl Pellets, they are certainly not a main prey species and Owls would just opportunistically hunt them if they venture above ground. We’re guessing that a mole was brought back to the nest and that this Owlet managed to consume the front leg of the mole before it left the nest.
It’s quite normal for there not to be a full skeleton in pellets, and this has provided us an interesting insight into what our local Owls have been eating!