Out Madaket way, a row of arbor vitae had been cut back recently because they were crowding the road. Underneath were dozens of bodies. Was it the work of a serial killer? No, some owls had been feeding.
Pellets are what these regurgitated masses of prey vomited up by birds are called. A number of species expel pellets, but owl pellets are the best known. Since owls often eat in the same place night after night, the pellets can pile up, and, in addition, their digestive juices aren’t as strong as, for instance, diurnal raptors, so bones are preserved whole.
And sharp as in these mouse jaws. Owls hack up entire skeletons along with the fur of their meal. The pellets are regularly used in both school biology classes for dissection and by biologists studying owl predation.
At the beginning of the new year, I will be presenting a series of posts about owls right here in Brooklyn (oh, yes) and maybe some of those other boroughs, too. Stay tuned for “Owl Week.”
Remains of the night
Published December 6, 2010 Fieldnotes 8 CommentsTags: birding, Nantucket, owls
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Alas, poor mousey … Okay, you MUST be back in Nantucket, yes? What a thrilling find. Looking forward to more owl posts. Do you know Bruce Yolton at UrbanHawks.com? He has been posting lovely photos and video of what appears to be the sole remaining eastern screech owl in Central Park. He also posted photos & video of a Northern Saw-whet owl in the park a week or so ago. You might enjoy.
I was on Nantucket for Thanksgiving, now back home in Brooklyn (the vagaries of blogging schedules, or non schedules…). Bruce’s excellent site is a great place to go for raptors diurnal and nocturnal.
One December when I was visiting my parents there was a barred owl regularly hanging out over their driveway — made for easy pellet collection. We found lots of little bones but never whole skulls. Very cool!
That owl pellet is amazing. Picture here worth only slightly more than your words.