Owl Pellet Study at Ostrander Elementary School

I visited the Ostrander Elementary School in Wallkill, NY today. I had two 2nd grade classes where we studied the common owls of the area and dissected owl pellets. Here is the data that was collected.

Mrs. Dutka’s class dissected 12 pellets and found 23 mice, 0 shrew, 0 moles and 1 bird
Mrs. Lazinski’s class dissected 10 pellets and found 19 mice, 2 shrew, 1 mole and 1 bird

A total of 22 pellets were dissected in which we found 42 mice, 2 shrews, 1 mole and 2 birds. What does this tell us about the favorite food of owls?

We will be taking apart owl pellets in other 2nd grade classes. We can add those findings to these to get a better idea of owl food preference. In addition we can look at the findings of other schools here on my blog. Check out my blog for February 3 at Jefferson Elementary, late January at Bushkill Elementary and November 4 at Circleville Elementary, among the recent school visits where I studied owls with elementary ornithologists.