The Web Site of Freelance Speaker and
Owl Conservationist Ian McGuire

Educating on the conservation of British owls

When an owl eats small mammals, like mice, voles, shrews etc, the animal is often small enough for the owl to swallow whole. The owl can digest the meat of the animal, but not the fur or bones, and so owls cough these back up and they come back out the mouth - we call these remains ‘owl pellets’.

If you take away the fur from the pellet, you can see all the bones from the little animals that the owl has been eating, and if you look carefully at these bones, with the aid of a  guide, you will be able to identify what types of little animals the owl has been eating!


You can have fun dissecting ‘virtual’ owl pellets and making a mouse skeleton from the remains on the Kidwings.com web site - click here to visit the site

Dissect an Owl Pellet