In early April as part of my Ecologist-In-Residence program at the Ostrander Elementary School in Wallkill, NY, I worked with 2nd graders dissecting owl pellets to see what owls eat. Here are our findings.
With Mrs. Lupoli’s class we dissected 13 pellets and found 33 mice, 2 shrews, 1 mole and 1 bird.
With Mrs. Busse’s class we dissected 13 pellets and found 34 mice, 2 shrews, 0 moles and 0 birds.
With Mrs. McQuiston’s class we dissected 12 pellets and found 33 mice, 2 shrews, 0 moles and 0 birds.
Our total findings were 38 pellets dissected producing 80 mice, 6 shrews, 1 mole and 1 bird. I had presented to the students the hypothesis that mice are the most favored food with shrews being second favored and birds and moles tied for third. Do the findings above support this hypothesis?
In the years that I have been taking apart owl pellets I have noticed that there are variations in the numbers and kinds of animals eaten by Barn Owls (the owls that produce the pellets used in my programs). Could these be related to the seasons? As a start to answering this we should see if there are any consistencies with pellets dissected the same time each year. I have some data that we can look at by looking back at what Ostrander ornithologists have found in the past. Here is what we find:
2011 – 29 pellets produced 61 mice, 11 shrews, 3 moles, 1 bird
2010 – 36 pellets produced 72 mice, 9 shrews, 3 moles, 2 birds
2009 – 27 pellets produced 57 mice, 5 shrews, 0 moles, 0 birds
These numbers do seem consistent each year. I wonder if there would be a difference in numbers if we compared these findings with pellets from a different season than early spring, for example late summer or mid-winter. Check out my blog archives for owl pellet dissections done at other times of the year. Let me know if you find a difference.
With Mrs. Lupoli’s class we dissected 13 pellets and found 33 mice, 2 shrews, 1 mole and 1 bird.
With Mrs. Busse’s class we dissected 13 pellets and found 34 mice, 2 shrews, 0 moles and 0 birds.
With Mrs. McQuiston’s class we dissected 12 pellets and found 33 mice, 2 shrews, 0 moles and 0 birds.
Our total findings were 38 pellets dissected producing 80 mice, 6 shrews, 1 mole and 1 bird. I had presented to the students the hypothesis that mice are the most favored food with shrews being second favored and birds and moles tied for third. Do the findings above support this hypothesis?
In the years that I have been taking apart owl pellets I have noticed that there are variations in the numbers and kinds of animals eaten by Barn Owls (the owls that produce the pellets used in my programs). Could these be related to the seasons? As a start to answering this we should see if there are any consistencies with pellets dissected the same time each year. I have some data that we can look at by looking back at what Ostrander ornithologists have found in the past. Here is what we find:
2011 – 29 pellets produced 61 mice, 11 shrews, 3 moles, 1 bird
2010 – 36 pellets produced 72 mice, 9 shrews, 3 moles, 2 birds
2009 – 27 pellets produced 57 mice, 5 shrews, 0 moles, 0 birds
These numbers do seem consistent each year. I wonder if there would be a difference in numbers if we compared these findings with pellets from a different season than early spring, for example late summer or mid-winter. Check out my blog archives for owl pellet dissections done at other times of the year. Let me know if you find a difference.
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