Name: ___________________________________________________ Period: ______________
VIRTUAL OWL PELLET DISSECTION - Make Up Lab
http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/barnowl/index2.htm
1. Carefully examine the exterior of the pellet. Do you see any signs of fur or feathers? Do you
see any bones? Describe your observations.
Follow the instructions on each page to break apart the owl pellet into smaller pieces & organize the
bones.
- Screen #1 = 3 pieces
- Screen #2 = 9 pieces
- Screen #3 = 9 groups of bones
- Screen #4 = similar bones are organized into groups
On Screen #5, click on each set of bones to learn more about them.
2. How many skulls did you find in your owl pellet?
3. How many jaw bones are present?
4. Based on the number of jaw bones, how many mice were in this pellet?
5. What are pelvic bones?
6. What do the vertebrae bones form? Why do they have a hole in them?
7. What are the scapulars?
Next, click on “Find out how many mice an owl family needs to survive”
(http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/barnowl/math/index.htm)
Follow the instructions & complete the table below.
Pellet Number
1
2
3
4
5
6
How many mice were
in this pellet?
Continue on to the next screen.
Now that you have collected data for six pellets, let's see if you can figure out how many mice an owl
would eat in a day, week, month, and year.
1. What is the average number of mice in each pellet?
2. Owls make two pellets each day. How many mice are eaten in one day?
3. How many mice does our owl eat on average in a week?
4. How many mice does our owl eat on average in a month (30 days)?
5. How many mice does our owl eat on average in a year (365 days)?
You are finished with the online portion of this lab. Read the information below to help you answer the
remaining questions.
Owls are primarily nocturnal (night) creatures and prey on a variety of food items.
Prey animals may include: small mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and
even large earthworms. The size and species of owl may affect their menu. Owls swallow
their food whole or in large pieces, and strong acids and protein enzymes dissolve the
nourishing soft body parts. However, the owl cannot digest the bones, teeth, hair,
feathers, scales or insect exoskeletons that remain. Instead, the stomach muscles
compress these remains into a wet, slimy pellet that is “coughed up” or regurgitated at
least 12 hours later. Pellets are produced and regurgitated not only by owls, but by
hawks, eagles and other raptors that swallow their prey whole or in small pieces.
In this process even the most fragile bones are usually preserved unbroken. As
a result, each pellet contains the skeletons of the animals eaten by the owl
the night before.
Owl pellets themselves could be considered tiny ecosystems, providing food
and shelter for communities which may include clothes moths, carpet
beetles, fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms. Owl pellets can also
teach us a lot about the relationship between these winged predators and
their prey.
1. What do we know about the eating habits & digestive
system of an owl based upon the pellets?
2. What kind of organisms can be found within an owl pellet ecosystem?
3. Owls are highly specialized nocturnal predators. List 3 adaptations that owls possess. (We
talked about this in class)