OWL
PELLET
DISSECTION
LAB
Answer Key
©The Trendy Science Teacher
Owl Pellet Dissection pre-lab
Directions: Use your favorite search engine to complete the information below.
What are some
Why do owls have
adaptations of a
such large eyes?
barn owl?
large
Large eyes wingspan
Large eyes improve their
Ability to conduct a
efficiency and allow
silent flight, can fly
them to see while
slowly without stalling
hunting at night
Describe an owl’s diet.
Rodent-like animals such as shrew, moles,
name of the barn owl?
Grasslands, forests, fields, barns
What is the scientific
habitat of barn owls.
voles, and mice
Describe the
Also eats frogs, snakes, lizards, and rabbits
Tyto alba
What is special about an owl’s
digestion?
Once an owl’s prey is swallowed, the food passes
through the esophagus and then into the stomach
where the “undigestible” materials are separated from
the digestible materials. The undigestible materials are
regurgitated.
1 ©The Trendy Science Teacher
Owl Pellet Dissection pre-lab
Directions: In the space provided below, construct a food web that
includes the barn owl.
2 ©The Trendy Science Teacher
Owl Pellet Dissection pre-lab
Before dissecting our owl pellets, we will need to learn what owl
pellets are, how they form and what we might discover from
observing them. Follow the instructions below and answer the
questions that follow.
Visit the following website:
https://kidwings.com/explores/online-labs/barn-owls
Select the different information sheets to learn more about
the barn owl and answer the following questions:
1. What is an owl pellet? Answers may vary- materials that an owl
cannot digest that are orally expelled by the owl.
2. True or False: Owls eat their prey whole.
3. When do pellets begin forming within the digestive tract of an owl?
As soon as the prey is swallowed.
4. What is the role of enzymatic juices in the owl’s digestive system?
They break down the body tissues in the prey.
5. What are some of the undigested portions of the prey that the owl
might “gag” from its system? beaks, claws, scales, or insect
exoskeletons
6. True or False: Owls have teeth for chewing and grinding their prey.
7. Where do the un-digestible materials go? They are “gagged” and
orally expelled
8. A one-year study of the Barn Owl revealed the following diet:
1,407 mice, 143 rats, 7 bats, 5 young rabbits, 375 house
sparrows, 23 starlings, 54 other birds, 2 lizards, 174 frogs,
3 25 moths, and 52 crickets. ©The Trendy Science Teacher
Owl Pellet Dissection pre-lab
9. What is the staple food choice of the Barn Owl (which typically
represents 80% of their diet)? the vole
10. True or False: Owls do not consume other birds.
11. Explain the 6 steps of pellet formation:
1. Prey is positioned head-first in the beak.
2. Prey is swallowed and passes through the esophagus.
3. Prey enters the glandular stomach.
4. Enzymes break down the prey and nutrients pass through the
muscular system.
5. Nutrients are absorbed into the body from the intestine. Hair is
pressed around the bones of the prey.
6. The pellet is orally expelled.
12. What are some clues that might indicate where an owl pellet was
gathered from:
open shed → milo seeds
grain elevator → grain
cut banks and under trees → dirt
barns and hay sheds → hay or straw
man-made nesting boxes → feathers
under evergreen trees → pine needles
13. If a Barn Owl eats a bird, what are some skeletal remains that might
be present in the owl’s regurgitated pellet? clavicle, mandible, skull,
femur, ulna, radius, fibula, tibia, humerus, pelvis, scapula
14. If a Barn Owl eats a shrew, what are some skeletal remains that
might be present in the owl’s regurgitated pellet? clavicle, skull, femur,
scapula, humerus, ulna, radius, mandible, tibia, fibula, pelvis
4 ©The Trendy Science Teacher
Owl Pellet Dissection pre-lab
Extension Questions: Using what you learned about owls, answer the
following extension questions.
15. Is an owl considered to be a carnivore, omnivore or herbivore?
carnivore
16. Is an owl considered to be a heterotroph or autotroph?
heterotroph
17. Is an owl considered to be a producer, primary consumer or
secondary consumer? How do you know? Secondary consumer-
because they consume organisms that feed on producers.
Visit the following website:
https://kidwings.com/sherlock-bones/
Press the “PLAY” button to practice dissecting an owl pellet.
18. List 10 bones that you found in your owl pellet:
lumbar vertebrae
___________________ ribs
_________________ skull
________________
caudal vertebrae
___________________ ulna
_________________ lower jaw
________________
thoracic vertebrae
___________________ axis
_________________ atlas
________________
radius
___________________ femur
_________________ pelvis
________________
cervical vertebrae
___________________ scapula
_________________ humerus
________________
tibia fibula
5 ©The Trendy Science Teacher
Owl Pellet Dissection lab
MATERIALS
❑ Owl pellet
❑ Forceps/tweezers
❑ Dissecting needle or toothpick
❑ Bone Chart
❑ Blank paper
LAB SAFETY
Owl pellets can harbor bacteria, such as salmonella. Do not place hands in eyes or mouth after
handling owl pellets. Wash hands after handling the owl pellets.
PROCEDURES
1. Measure the length and width of your owl pellet and record the information below.
cm
Length: ________ cm Width: ________ cm Answers will vary
2. Observe the external features of the owl pellet. Do you see any fur? Grass? Feathers?
Write your observations below.
Answers will vary
3. Carefully use a toothpick or dissecting needle to break apart the owl pellet and observe what
is inside. Use your tools to expose all of the contents within the pellet. Use a piece of blank
paper to sort your findings.
What are your initial observations?
Answers will vary
4. Use the bone identification chart provided to you to complete the information in the data
table on the next page.
6 ©The Trendy Science Teacher
Owl Pellet Dissection lab
Data Table
Record the number of each bone found for each organism listed below.
Skulls Quantity
Rodent
Shrew
Mole
Bird
Other
Answers will vary
Jaw Bone Quantity
Rodent
Shrew
Mole
Bird
Other
Answers will vary
Pelvic Bone Quantity
Rodent
Shrew
Mole
Bird
Other
Answers will vary
Scapula Quantity
Rodent
Shrew
Mole
Bird
Other
7 ©The Trendy Science Teacher
Owl Pellet Dissection lab
Analysis Questions
1. What does an owl pellet reveal about an owl’s role in an ecosystem? (Your answer must be at
least 5 sentences in length.)
As predators, owls play an important role in the environment by controlling small
animal populations. Because mammals are a primary prey item, this can be
especially beneficial to humans, reducing the amount of food lost each year to
rodents. Barn owls are also a food source for other animals. When they die, they
become nutrients for the soil and organisms that use those nutrients to grow and
thrive.
2. Based on your observations of the owl’s diet, what adaptations do you think an owl might have
that helps it to find and capture its prey?
Answers will vary, but students might mention that owls need to have large eyes to
see at night, they need to have the ability to fly quietly, they need sharp talons and
a sharp beak for catching and tearing into prey.
3. Assume that an owl forms one pellet each day. Using the total number of skulls found in your
pellet, how many organisms would your owl eat in a week?__________ in a month?
__________ in a year? __________
Answers will vary
4. Calculate the percentage breakdown for the organisms that exist in your owl pellet.
Total # of rodents: _______ ÷ total # of organisms x 100 = ______ %
Total # of shrew: ______÷ total # of organisms x 100 = ______ %
Total # of moles: ______÷ total # of organisms x 100 = ______ %
Total # of birds:_______÷ total # of organisms x 100 = ______ %
Total # of “other:” ______÷ total # of organisms x 100 = ______ %
5. The main predators of field mice in a certain ecosystem are rattlesnakes and foxes. Suppose
humans begin building neighborhoods in the ecosystem, driving out many of the indigenous
rattlesnakes and foxes. What impact will this change to the ecosystem have on the owls?
Two things can happen… 1) If the number of snakes and foxes decrease, this might increase the
number of owls since both rattlesnakes and foxes feed on owls. 2) If the number of snakes
decrease, this could cause the owl population to decrease if the owls in that particular
ecosystem feed on rattlesnakes.
6. The 10% rule states that between one trophic level to the next only 10% of the energy is passed
on to the next. Assuming that a shrew contains 5,890 J of energy, how much energy is available to
8 an owl that eats the shrew? 589 J ©The Trendy Science Teacher
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