owl pellet writing assignment

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Owls and Owl Pellet Worksheets

These printable worksheet can help students with their owl pellet dissection projects. You'll find a bone identification chart, a sequencing activity, and a reading comprehension passage about owls. You'll find other owl-themed worksheets on this page as well.

Owl Pellets

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Challenge Puzzle

Learn how energy is passed through the food chain. Worksheets cover producers/consumers, carnivores/herbivores/omnivores, and predator/prey relationships.

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Owl Pellet Dissection

Image credit: Charles Welch

What animals did your barn owl eat this week? Observe the bones it swallowed to identify its prey!

Students will be able to:

• analyze and interpret data they have collected from an owl pellet dissection to answer a question.
• use a dichotomous key to identify bones of prey species found in an owl pellet.
• Many pellets that are sold for student use have been heat sterilized to kill bacteria, making them safe to handle with bare hands. Even so, students should wash their hands with soap and clean their work area thoroughly after the dissection. Pellets should not be dissected in areas where food is prepared or consumed.
• tweezers (1 per student)
• hand lens (1 per student)
• napkin or paper towel (1 per student)
• (optional) editable Powerpoint Deck with imagery
• There are two versions of the key: a visual, branching version and a text version. Use whichever version you feel your students will be more comfortable with.
• What Do Owls Eat? worksheet (1 per student)
• Owl Pellet Dissection Procedure worksheet (1 per student)

Optional materials to create a miniature collections tray for one's findings:

• large petri dish (1 per student)
• cotton balls (2-3 per student)
• Sharpie for labeling petri dishes
• scotch tape
• canines: the long, pointed teeth next to the incisors; general used for piercing and tearing
• incisors: the front-most teeth in the jaw; generally used for nibbling
• molars: the backmost teeth in the jaw; generally used by humans or rodents for grinding, or for crushing by insectivores.
• premolars: the teeth located between the canines and molars
• root: the part of the tooth that is anchored in the jaw bone
• cranium: the part of the skull that surrounds and protects the brain
• diastema: the large space between the incisors and molars; found only in herbivores
• mandible: the lower jaw
• skull: the structure that includes both the cranium and the mandible together
• dichotomous key: a tool to help one identify things in the natural world – such as trees, wildflowers, and mammals – by a series of choices between two items. Pronounced “dye-KAH-tah-mus.”
• Make one copy of the What Do Owls Eat? and  Owl Dissection Procedure worksheets for each student .  
• Gather materials and set up students’ workstations with materials for the dissection.  
• Decide which dissection procedure you would like students to perform. There are two procedures that can be used to dissect an owl pellet; dry or wet dissection:

Dry dissection

• Unwrap the foil from the owl pellet.
• Gently pull the pellet into two halves.
• Use tweezers to pull apart the soft material surrounding the skull and bones.
• Place bones into a separate pile.
• Discard the fur and other soft material.

Wet dissection

• Place the owl pellet in a petri dish filled with water. Soak pellet for 10 minutes.
• Leave your pellet in the dish and gently pull the pellet into two halves.
• Use tweezers to pull apart the soft material surrounding the skull and bones. You can soak larger bones in the petri dish to help loosen the material that is packed around the bones.
• Discard water and petri dish.

Part 1: I notice, I wonder…

• Pass out owl pellets to each student or pair of students.  

NGSS Connection: This portion of the lesson connects to the Practice of Asking Questions because students generate their own questions about owl pellets through firsthand observations using the “I notice, I wonder” sentence starters. Questions that are generated from student’s firsthand observations help them to develop their own ideas and explanations for phenomena in the natural world. Students’ questions can be recorded on the Owl Pellets Dissection worksheet. Students can also select one of their questions to try and answer with throughout the course of their dissection.  

Educator Tip:  Be sure to address the misconception that owl pellets are poop. Owl pellets are regurgitated material that cannot be digested.  

• Discuss basic information about barn owls. Explain that barn owls hunt in open areas like fields and eat a variety of small animals, depending on what they can catch. You may download and edit this Powerpoint deck , if you'd like.  
• Go over the common prey species of barn owls in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.  
• Explain that examining the contents of a pellet provides a good record of what the owl has eaten recently. Tell students that they will be collecting data and using a dichotomous key to determine the prey species that are found in the owl pellets.

Part 2: Dissection

• Inform students that they will first dissect their owl pellets, and then they will use a dichotomous key to identify the bones of the prey species found in the pellet.  
• Go over the steps of the dissection procedure, following the steps outlined in the Owl Pellets Dissection worksheet . Make sure students understand what they will be doing at each point.  
• Inform students that these pellets have been heat-treated to sterilize them. However, to be on the safe side, they will have to wash their hands and clean their work area after the dissection. They should not eat, drink, or put their hands in their mouths during the activity.  

Educator Tip:   Student’s excitement over the first bones that are uncovered can lead to distraction from the dissection. Encourage students to stay organized, follow the procedure, and keep careful track of what they find.  

Educator Tip: During the time that students are dissecting their owl pellets, you can draw the class data table and “Percentage of Prey Species Found in Owl Pellets” graph from the What do owls eat? worksheet on the board.

Part 3: Dichotomous key

• Tell students that they have collected the data of what owls eat by dissecting their owl pellets; now they need to analyze their data. To do this, students will need to identify the skulls of the prey species in their owl pellets using a dichotomous key.  
• Go over what a dichotomous key is (a tool to help one identify things in the natural world – such as trees, wildflowers, and mammals – by a series of choices between two items). The key works through a series of questions, each with two possible answers. Each answer leads to a new question until the identification is reached.  
• Before handing out the dichotomous key, go over the vocabulary that students will encounter in the key related to identifying the skulls (e.g.; skull, cranium, mandible, diastema, molar, incisor, canine, and root).  
• For each skull that the students find, have them use the dichotomous key to identify it. Explain that each student should record the total number of skulls of each prey species they find on their What do owls eat? worksheet.  
• Tell students to start at STEP 1 on the key.  
• Once each student has identified and counted the total number of each prey species found in their pellet, compile a class data set. Have students come up to the board and put tally marks in the box next to the prey specie(s) that they found inside their pellet.  
• Calculate the fraction and percentage of barn owl diet for each prey species. A bar graph displaying these percentages can be filled in on the What do owls eat? worksheet.  

NGSS Connection: This portion of the lesson connects to the Practice of Analyzing and Interpreting Data because students must draw conclusions from their analysis of the data table and bar graph to determine which of the prey species was eaten the most by the owls. Based on their calculations of fractions and percentages, students should be able to determine the answer to the scientific question, “Which prey species was eaten the most by the owls?”  

NGSS Connection: This portion of the lesson connects to the Crosscutting Concept of Patterns because students are asked to identify patterns in the data to make a prediction about the owl’s environment. For example, if your class data shows that 90% of the prey species found in the owl pellets were voles, then you can predict that voles were the most abundant prey species in the environment.

Part 4: Display owl pellet bones in a petri dish (optional)

• Instruct students to write their names on the lid of the Petri dish with a Sharpie. This container will store the skulls and bones from their owl pellet.  
• Have students spread out a layer of cotton ball padding on the bottom of the petri dish and place the clean skulls and bones from their pellet onto this soft layer.  
• Close the lid of the Petri dish and tape it closed with Scotch tape.

Discuss with the students:

• Did each student find the same prey species in their pellet? Why or why not? Owls eat a mixed diet depending on what is available, so different owls will probably have eaten different things.  
• What is a dichotomous key? How does it help you learn more about organisms? A dichotomous key is a tool that helps you identify things in the natural world – such as trees, wildflowers, and mammals – by a series of choices between two items.
• Ask students to select one of their favorite questions from their “I wonder…” list on the Owl Pellets Dissection worksheet to investigate.  

NGSS Connection: This portion of the lesson connects to the Crosscutting Concept of Structure and Function because students are asked to observe the shape and size of the prey species’ teeth and think about how that is related to their function. For instance, the skulls of rodents, such as mice and voles, have front teeth that grow continuously. These front teeth help them to nibble the leafy vegetation that they eat. Moles and shrews will have differently shaped teeth because they have a different diet.  

• Challenge students to design their own dichotomous key to classify everyday items. Items that could be classified include student’s shoes or different types of candy. The beginning of a candy dichotomous key for classifying types of candy might look like this:

1. Candy is chocolate.                     Go to 2.     Candy is not chocolate.                  Go to 3.

2. Candy is rectangle-shaped.          Hershey’s bar.     Candy is circular-shaped                 Go to 4.

Owl Pellets

Owls swallow their prey whole, therefore in addition to the meat that they digest for food, they swallow other material such as bones, fur, or feathers. Owls are unable to digest these materials, so they are regurgitated in a compacted mass. This compacted mass of fur, bones, and any other indigestible material is called an owl pellet. Despite what it looks like, pellets are not owl poop (which is what many students assume). Owl pellets are more like owl puke.

Most owls produce about two pellets each day. A pile of pellets can often be found below an owl’s roosting site. The bones of prey that are found within an owl pellet can be identified with the help of a dichotomous keys or bone-sorting charts. Studies with captive owls have shown that pellets give an almost perfect record of what the bird has actually eaten. The contents of owl pellets provide a fascinating window into the life of a barn owl. In fact, fossilized pellets have been used to study the diet of ancient owls.

The pellets provided with this kit are collected from common barn owls ( Tyto alba ). Barn owls are the most widespread species of owl and one of the most widely distributed vertebrate species on the planet. They are found on every continent except for Antarctica.

Barn owls hunt in open areas, such as fields, marshes, and grasslands. They are mainly nocturnal and depend on their remarkable sense of hearing to hunt. Their hearing is so accurate that they are able to capture prey in complete darkness. Barn owls nest in enclosed spaces, such as small caves or holes in trees. Human-built structures, including barns, also provide comfortable nesting spaces. Human activities, such as clearing forests for farmland, have extended the open areas in which barn owls can hunt.

Barn Owl prey species

While some predators prefer to eat a specific type of prey, others are less picky and will eat whatever is readily available. Barn owls eat a mixed diet of whatever small critters they can catch in their fields. They feed mainly on the small land mammals that live the fields where they hunt. They will also eat small birds, bats, and occasionally small reptiles. As a result, the barn owl diet varies regionally depending on what prey animals are common in the area. For example, owl pellets from Northwestern United States most frequently contain the remains of voles, which are abundant in the area. On the other hand, voles are absent from parts of the Southeast; in those areas, rats are more commonly found in owl pellets.

The pellets provided with this kit are collected in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. Common prey of barn owls in this region include the following:

Rodents are mammals that have front teeth that grow continuously. 40% of all mammal species are rodents.

• Deer mice: Deer mice feed on seeds, nuts, fruit, and leafy vegetation. They have large round ears, long furless tails, and brown fur with lighter fur on their undersides.  
• Voles: At first glance, voles can be easily confused with mice. They are similar in size and color, but voles have a stouter body than mice, smaller eyes and ears, and short furry tails. Voles eat stems, leaves, seeds, fruit, roots, and flowers.  
• Pocket gophers: These are burrowing rodents that eat roots and tubers. Pocket gophers use their fur-lined cheek pouches to carry food into their tunnels for storage.

OTHER MAMMALS

These animals are not rodents because they lack the characteristic of continuously growing incisors. Moles and shrews belong to a group of mammals called insectivores. Bats belong to their own group and are the only mammals capable of true flight. Other mammals commonly eaten by barn owls include:

• Moles: Moles have strong front feet and large claws that they use to burrow in search of earthworms, insects, and other small invertebrates. Moles have very poor vision, but have excellent hearing and use small hairs on their feet and tails to help sense their surroundings.  
• Shrews: Shrews are some of the smallest living mammals. They have small eyes, hidden ears, and pointy snouts. Shrews eat insects, worms, snails, and spiders, and dig narrow burrows. Although they look similar to mice, shrews are more closely related to moles and hedgehogs.  
• Bats: Smaller bats are sometimes eaten by barn owls. These nocturnal flying mammals are not surprising prey choices since they tend to be out hunting at the same time as owls are.

While mammals are the consistent staple of a barn owl’s diet, small birds are an important alternative during the winter, when mammals tend to be less active and more difficult to find. Bird bones are thin and delicate; as a result they may be partially digested by barn owls, making them more difficult to find in the pellets.

Science and Engineering Practices

Asking questions

K-2: Ask questions based on observations to find more information about the natural and/or designed world(s). Ask and/or identify questions that can be answered by an investigation.

3-5: Ask questions that can be investigated and predict reasonable outcomes based on patterns such as cause and effect relationships.

Analyzing and interpreting data

K-2: Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns and/or relationships in the natural and designed world(s) in order to answer scientific questions and solve problems.

3-5: Represent data in tables and/or various graphical displays (bar graphs, pictographs and/or pie charts) to reveal patterns that indicate relationships. Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena, using logical reasoning, mathematics, and/or computation. Compare and contrast data collected by different groups in order to discuss similarities and differences in their findings.

6-8: Construct, analyze, and/or interpret graphical displays of data and/or large data sets to identify linear and nonlinear relationships. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

K-LS1-C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms

• All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals.

4-LS1-A: Structure and function

• Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.

Crosscutting Concepts

K-2: Children recognize that patterns in the natural and human designed world can be observed, used to describe phenomena, and used as evidence.

3-5: Students use patterns to make predictions.

6-8: Students use patterns to identify cause and effect relationships, and use graphs and charts to identify patterns in data.

Structure and function

K-2: Students observe the shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function(s).

3-5: Students learn different materials have different substructures, which can sometimes be observed; and substructures have shapes and parts that serve functions.

Related Performance Expectations

Remember, performance expectations are not a set of instructional or assessment tasks. They are statements of what students should be able to do after instruction. This activity or unit is just one of many that could help prepare your students to perform the following hypothetical tasks that demonstrate their understanding:

MS-LS2-2:  Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

Martin, Jason M., Richard N. Raid, and Lyn C. Branch. (2005) Barn Owl ( Tyto alba ). Retrieved September 25, 2008 from University of Florida IFAS Extension website: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW216 

Sparks, John and Tony Soper. (1970) Owls: Their natural and unnatural history . New York: Taplinger Publishing Company.

Taylor, Iain. Barn owls: Predator-prey relationships and conservation . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tyler, Hamilton and Don Philips. (1978) Owls by day and night. Happy Camp, CA: Naturegraph.

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Owl Pellet Dissections – 10 Unique Activities to Add

As a former high school biology teacher and current homeschool mom, I have done my fair share of owl pellet dissections. How fascinating to peek into the habits and life of a creature that is often only glimpsed as a shadow passing in the dead of the night.  Students have not always shared my fascination. I have seen students recoil in absolute horror at the sight of a half-digested rodent skeleton. I have also seen others pore over their pellets with rapt attention, identifying each tiny bone with precision and asking…. “May I please do another one?!”

What I love about owl pellet dissections is the way they bring the food chain to life. By studying owl pellets, students can learn about different animals living in an owl’s ecosystem and how they are interconnected. For example, they can see the impact predators have on the prey population and the role that each animal plays in the food chain. 

why an Owl Pellet Dissection?

Owl pellet dissections are more than just a lesson in biology. They are also an opportunity for learners to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Identifying the different bones and piecing together the remains of the prey requires attention to detail and careful observation. 

For students that may not be interested in the traditional lecture-based approach to learning, owl pellet dissections offer a fun and engaging alternative. They offer a hands-on experience that is both fun and educational. Additionally, this activity can also be adapted to fit different age groups and learning styles. It is suitable for traditional classrooms, homeschool co-ops, afterschool programs, scouts, or home study. 

I have a great collection of engaging and unique activities that you can use to enhance your study of barn owls and owl pellets. These ready-to-print, no prep activities will make your dissection of owl pellets as fun and easy as possible! You can grab all of these resources for free!

1. Egg Carton Bone Sorter

I created this adorable bone sorting container so students would have an easy place to sort and store the bones they found in their owl pellets. Simply attach the included bone identification chart inside the lid of the egg carton. Then, students can place the bones found in the pellet in the appropriate slots in the egg carton. The images on the chart will help the students identify which bones they found. Later, they can use the dichotomous key to identify the animals that fell victim to the owl. All you need to assemble the bone sorter are the images found here , scissors, and glue dots or white glue. 

2. Barn Owl Slide Show Presentation

Start your owl pellet unit with this slide show about barn owls. It is an excellent way to engage students and provide them with a deeper understanding of owls. This slideshow covers the distribution of owls, their habitat, life cycle, adaptations, and the unique digestive process that produces owl pellets. The images in this slide show are from high-quality professional photo stock images and provides an engaging informative visual aid. 

3. Barn Owl Reading Passage

After using the owl pellet slide show, students can read this barn owl reading passage is a great way to reinforce the information covered in the barn owl slide show. The reading passage is designed to follow along with the slide show and covers the same topics. Choose to use the traditional reading passage or one with key terms in bold, which are featured as the answers to the crossword puzzle clues. 

4. Barn Owl Crossword Puzzle

When students are finished reading the Barn Owl Reading passage, they can use their knowledge to complete this crossword puzzle. The barn owl reading passage includes a crossword puzzle using the key terms from the reading passage. This is a great way to reinforce key terms and can be used for extra practice, homework, or assessment. 

5. Cut-and-Paste Food Web

This cut-and-paste food web is an excellent way to teach students about the transfer of energy in a barn owl’s habitat. Students can use printed images to create a food web showing the transfer of energy from one organism to another. Simply cut images apart, color (if desired), and glue them in the space provided. Then students can draw arrows showing the transfer of energy from one organism to another. This activity helps students understand the role of owls in the ecosystem. 

6. Barn Owl Adaptations Poster

This beautiful poster displays an image of an barn owl with descriptions of its adaptations. This poster is a great addition to any owl pellet unit. It can serve as a reference for students throughout the unit. Use it to teach students about the unique features that barn owls are equipped. This poster is also featured in the Barn Owl Slide Show . 

7. Owl Pellet Acrostic and Coloring Page

Add some Language Arts cross-curricular activities to your owl pellet dissection unit. This owl pellet acrostic and coloring page are creative ways for students to show their understanding of barn owls. You can use the pre-written acrostic or the blank acrostic for students to create their own poem. 

8. Rat Skeleton Diagram

Most of the critters that your students will find in their owl pellets will be rodents. This rat skeleton diagram shows two perspectives: top view and side view. Students can use the labeled image to reconstruct a rodent skeleton from their owl pellet bones, or they can use the diagram to identify the bones. An unlabeled diagram is also included as an extra activity or assessment. 

9.Creative Writing Prompts

I’ve included even more ways to infuse Language Arts in your student of Barn Owls and Owl Pellets. In the “Extend the Learning” section of the Owl Pellet Dissection , you will find several writing prompts, including a first-person narrative from the perspective of an owl and a short story about a group fo kids that discover an owl pellet during a nature walk. These activities help students get creative and use their imagination to apply what they have learned. Creative writing also helps students develop their language and communication skills. 

10. Dichotomous Key

Students can use this simple dichotomous key to identify the skull they found in the owl pellet. This is a great way to introduce taxonomy and how to identify organisms, a skill that students will use in the future as they learn to identify trees, insects, birds, flowers, and more. 

The dichotomous key is also an excellent activity for students to practice critical thinking and problem-solving skills. It also reinforces the importance of paying attention to detail and observation skills. 

Owl pellet dissections are an exciting and educational activity that provides a unique opportunity for students to learn about food chains, ecosystems, and the anatomy of animals. You will have so many options to use in your owl pellet dissection. All of these activities are carefully organized and created to save you TIME and MONEY!  Download this free Owl Pellet Dissection Activity Packet today!

Check out these websites for additional information related to barn owls:

• The Owl Pages 

The Owl Pages is a website dedicated to all things owl-related, including information on different owl species, their habitats, and their behavior. 

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is an organization focused on bird conservation and research, with resources on owl biology and behavior. Their gorgeous website is full of fascinating information about birds. You will find live webcams of birds in their natural habitat, information on bird identification, and links to courses like birdwatching. 

• National Wildlife Federation

The National Wildlife Federation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and their habitats. You will find hundreds of educational resources on nearly every type of bird. 

• British Trust for Ornithology

Another beautiful website to visit is the British Trust for Ornithology. This UK-based organization conducts research on birds and their habitats. Their BirdFacts resource provides key information about the UK’s birds. 

• American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History is a renowned museum featuring exhibits on the natural world, including an interactive exhibit on owl pellets and their role in the ecosystem. 

Read some great books on Barn Owls and Owl Pellets

• “Owls” by Gail Gibbons is a beautifully illustrated book that provides an in-depth look at the life cycle, habitat, and behavior of different owl species, including barn owls. 
• “Owl Puke: Book and Owl Pellet” by Jane Jammerslough is an interactive book and includes an owl pellet that readers can dissect, along with information on the food chain and the anatomy of different animals. 
• “Owl Moon” by Jane Yolen is a beautiful picture book that tells the story of a young girl and her father as they search for a barn owl on a cold winter night. 

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where can you purchase the actual pellets?

Hi Carrie! I recently purchased owl pellets from Amazon. Here is the link to the store I used . They were excellent quality and had multiple skeletons inside of each pellet. Good luck!

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Science Projects > Life Science Projects > Owl Pellet Dissection + Video  

Owl Pellet Dissection + Video

An owl pellet dissection lab is a memorable (and fun!) way to learn about the eating habits of birds of prey — birds such as owls that eat rodents and small birds.

Watch our video below for a quick introduction.

What are owl pellets? They are the regurgitated remains of an owl’s meal, including all the bones of the animals it ate (usually small rodents). Owls usually swallow their food whole, digest the edible parts, and then expel the indigestible parts through their mouth as a pellet. It might sound gross, but dissecting these is a project most kids love!

( Safety Note: Most owl pellets you can buy are sterilized to kill bacteria, but take care not to dissect a pellet near food or put any part of it in your mouth. Use disposable gloves or wash your hands well after working with the pellet.)

Buy the supplies for this project in one convenient kit!

Owl Pellet Dissection Kit 

1. To do this lab, you’ll need an owl pellet . Carefully inspect the outside of the pellet and note its size (when ordering samples, specify whether you prefer small, large, or jumbo owl pellets), whether there are any feathers visible, and whether there are any clues to where the pellet was found. Guess how many different animal skeletons the pellet contains.

2. Next, gently pull apart the pellet , being careful not to break any of the bones inside it. Use toothpicks or a teasing needle to separate the bones from the fur or feathers. Take special care when removing the skulls and jawbones, since they are the best way to identify the animals that the owl ate. Group similar bones together. When you’ve finished sorting the bones, roll the last bits of fur between your fingers to find little bones or teeth that might have been overlooked.

3. Once you’ve found all the bones, try to reconstruct the skeletons of the animals. Use an identification key to classify the bones . Owls usually eat more than one rodent before regurgitating the remains, so you should be able to find multiple bones that are similar. Can you distinguish between the bones of different kinds of rodents based on their size?

4. How many different kinds of animals did you find evidence of in the pellet? How many animals were there in total? What can you conclude about the eating habits of the owl that made your pellet?

A food chain shows the relationship between producers (plants) and consumers (animals that eat the plants or that eat other animals). Here are some simple relationships between the producers and consumers that are involved in a Barn owl’s diet.

Plants, grasses, roots, seeds —> mice, rats, gophers, birds Plants —> insects —> frogs, birds Worms —> birds, moles Birds, mice, rats, frogs —> weasels Birds, mice, rats, gophers, frogs, moles, weasels —> Barn owls

To help younger kids visualize this relationship, make a chart (using pictures) of what you think the owl’s food chain looked like, based on the animals you were able to identify in your owl pellet.

Ready to do dissect more? Check out our other dissection kits for all ages!

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Owl Pellet Dissection and Writing Activity

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You have some super photos here Melissa! Bet there were many oohs and ahhhs! I used to love doing this when I taught strictly science! If only I had your great resource then! If I win it, I will order up some owl pellets for next year and dissect them with my second graders! :) Jeannine [email protected] Creative Lesson Cafe

Thanks Jeannine! They really did love it, and I did too! :)

The timing of your packet couldn't be better. I am getting ready to dissect owl pellets in the classroom for the first time. I would love to use your packet! I found a great website that has information for the kiddos as well as a virtual pellet students can pick apart and sort that I plan to use before doing the real thing. Here it is so you can check it out. http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/flash/v4/index.htm I am keeping my fingers crossed that I win your packet! [email protected]

Kidwings is so amazing! That is actually where we ordered our pellets from. I had my students fill out the pre dissection info first, then we explored and virtually dissected. It really did prepare them for the whole experience! :)

FREE Owl Pellet Dissection Guide

Owl pellet lab.

Not sure how to start your Owl Pellet Dissection Lab or just need a refresher? Start here and use this  FREE Owl Pellet Dissection Guide to help you. For a printable version of this guide, click the button below.

What Is An Owl Pellet? A Very Brief Explanation.

After swallowing its food whole the Barn Owl relies on its Gizzard to help it digest. After swallowing  bones, fur, and all, the Gizzard separates out what the Owl cannot digest. Several hours later, after the Gizzard has finished its job, the Owl regurgitates a Pellet or sometimes more than one. This pellet is a mass of all the indigestible bits that the gizzard separated.

At Oregon Owl Pellets our Owl Pellets come from Oregon Barn Owls , we gather the pellets from our local area barns and other structures Barn Owls like to nest in.

Planning the Owl Pellet Dissection Lesson

Supplies and materials.

The following will list some, but not all supplies you may need.

• The most important part of your Owl Pellet Dissection Lab.
• You may need a larger one, depending on the size of the pellets.
• For tearing apart pellets and pulling out bones.
• Note: A small amount of water can be used to soften the pellets prior to students opening them. This makes them easier to dissect and reduces the risk of breaking remains while opening the pellets.
• A good reassurance for those who might be a little squeamish.
• *Facemask (Optional)
• Owl Pellet Bone and Dissection Chart helps students identify bones found in owl pellets .
• Like any lab, have adequate space for your students to work.

*Included in our Owl Pellet Dissection Kits .

Things to keep in mind.

Rodent bones are the most common bone found in owl pellets . These can include voles, rats, mice, and even shrews. To avoid breaking fragile bones, students should work slowly. This is when using water to soften the owl pellet can be very important. Put a little on each pellet.

" Remind your students not to put the Owl Pellet in their mouth. If they do, don’t worry, the sanitized pellets will not hurt them. However it would be a good precaution to have them rinse their mouth with mouthwash afterwards. "

Dissection and Bone Collection

As your students begin dissecting the pellets, have them set aside bones or other remains they find. Sometimes this can include rodent skulls.

Encourage them to identify what they find. For older students this may be easier so give them the added challenge of putting bones from the same animal together.

We provide a free bone chart with the purchase of our Owl Pellets ! Or click the button below to download a FREE PDF of our Owl Pellet Bone Identification Chart and print as many copies as you need!

Highest Quality And Safety

We carefully hand select each Owl Pellet to ensure quality. Heat thoroughly to kill any harmful bacteria, protecting you and your students. Then finally, wrap each pellet to protect it during shipping. In short, we want you to receive only the best quality Owl Pellets for your classroom.

If you’re not sure where to start try one of our Owl Pellet Dissection Kits .

Owl Pellet Dissection

​All of those are valid questions to consider. I love doing the lab because owl pellets are relatively affordable (especially if you put students in groups of 2 or 3), and engagement is high. Here are some ideas on how to up the rigor with high school students:

1. COMPARE PREY SPECIES-   Depending on your budget, order both northwest and southwest pellets. You can have half the students dissect northwest pellets and the other have dissect southwest pellets. Compare the prey that are found and discuss the differences. Other birds of prey create pellets too- what would students expect to find in a heron or hawk pellet? 

2. TROPHIC PYRAMIDS- After dissecting the pellets, have students turn the data into trophic pyramids. Students can create a pyramid of numbers using class data- f or every owl (number of pellets you passed out), how many prey were found? They can also create a pyramid of biomass if you give them numbers to work with. Suppose an average barn owl has a mass of 500g and an average mouse has a mass of 20g. If one owl eats one mouse per day, what would a pyramid of biomass look like for 1 year? Have them work the math and draw it out. 

​3. ENERGY TRANSFER- Discuss energy transfer from prey to predator. You could give students hypothetical numbers (in joules or kcal) and have them calculate the percentage of energy transferred from one trophic level to the next. You’ll want it to work out to around 10%.

4. SKELETON ASSEMBLY- If time allows, have students take their bones and re-assemble the prey skeleton. You can easily google an image of a mouse skeleton and have students glue on as many bones as they can identify. 

Looking for a lab worksheet for an owl pellet dissection? Click here ! I also have a blog post with more food chain and web activities you might want to check out. 

Let me know if you have any questions! Rock on!

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Barn Owl pellet analysis

Owl pellet facts & video: Find out all about Barn Owl pellet dissection and how to analyse the contents.

What is a Barn Owl pellet?

(a 4-minute video with Head of Conservation, David Ramsden MBE)

What are Barn Owl pellets

• Where to find Barn Owl pellets

Owl pellet storage and preparation

Barn owl pellet dissection, barn owl pellet contents identification, barn owl pellet analysis and dissection for schools.

• Barn Owl Trust pellet dissection pack
• Barn Owls are unable to digest the fur and bones of their prey, which they usually swallow whole.
• The indigestible parts are regurgitated (cast up through the beak) in the form of an owl pellet.
• After feeding, producing a pellet takes 6 hours or more.
• After each night’s hunting an owl regurgitates 1 or 2 pellets.
• Barn Owl pellets are typically about the size of a man’s thumb and black when fresh.
• Pellets often contain the remains of 4 or 5 small mammals.
• Pellet dissection can tell you exactly what a Barn Owl has eaten.

Where to find Barn Owl pellets

Pellets often accumulate at roosting or nesting sites , where owls can hide away and shelter from the weather. Knowing the signs of occupation will help you find pellets and determine if they are from Barn Owls or not. Barn Owl pellets are black when fresh, turning grey as they get older.

Pellet identification chart : Identify the bird pellets you find. Most birds produce pellets, which look different according to what they eat. Or have you found something else entirely – like a fox scat for instance?

More about owl pellet identification on our Barn Owl Survey website .

When collecting pellets from a potential nest site, do take care. Barn Owls are legally protected against disturbance whilst nesting. However, it’s likely that any owl nest is high above you and if you are quietly collecting pellets on the ground you are probably not going to disturb the owls.

Fresh owl pellets should be thoroughly dried and kept in an airtight container or frozen in an unsealed bag or cardboard box (so they can dry whilst frozen). If moist pellets are stored together they can become a congealed mass of pellet debris. If pellets are stored in a sealed container a number of grubs or small moths may be found once the container is reopened. These are clothes moths and their grubs are completely harmless (except to wool). Freezing kills them. 

In dry, well-used roost sites, lots of Barn Owl pellets can accumulate. Using our owl pellet age guide photo on the right, it’s possible to work out how long Barn Owls have been using the site and how recently the owl was present.

Barn Owl pellets break down with age as clothes moths eat the fur, leaving the tiny bones behind, which can last for many years.

Pellets can be analysed wet or dry. It is easier to analyse dry pellets, but to extract all of the small mammal bones intact, dried pellets can be soaked in water for 24 hours.

Gently tease the pellet apart using your fingers or tweezers. Although pellets do not smell, (they are not faeces) hands should be washed thoroughly with soap and water after this activity.

Many thousands of Barn Owl pellets have been analysed so we know a great deal about what   Barn Owl’s hunt and eat .

Wild Barn Owls eat mainly small mammals such as voles, shrews and mice. Other less common items include rats, birds and frogs.

The simplest way to identify which small mammals have been eaten is to search for the lower jaw bones, then ‘pair up’ the right and left jaws from each pellet.

The shapes of the bones, particularly the jawbones, can tell you what species of animal the owl has eaten. You can also count how many prey items are contained within an individual pellet.

Take a look at a our photos of owl pellet analysis to help you to identify bones

– free* PDF to download. Includes owl pellet analysis diagrams. *Free for personal and educational use only – copyright Barn Owl Trust.

Barn Owl Trust Owl pellet dissection pack

Contains everything you need for owl pellet dissection – including a real Barn Owl pellet! Natural science straight from the owl’s mouth! Owl pellet analysis is a fascinating activity for adults and children. You can buy the packs from our  online shop .

Other relevant pages

Photos of owl pellet analysis – bone identification

Owl pellet facts for kids

Barn Owl hunting and feeding – what do Barn Owls eat and how do they hunt?

Signs of Barn Owl occupation – are Barn Owls living in your barn?

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Essay Writing

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This resource begins with a general description of essay writing and moves to a discussion of common essay genres students may encounter across the curriculum. The four genres of essays (description, narration, exposition, and argumentation) are common paper assignments you may encounter in your writing classes. Although these genres, also known as the modes of discourse, have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these genres and students’ need to understand and produce these types of essays. We hope these resources will help.

The essay is a commonly assigned form of writing that every student will encounter while in academia. Therefore, it is wise for the student to become capable and comfortable with this type of writing early on in her training.

Essays can be a rewarding and challenging type of writing and are often assigned either to be done in class, which requires previous planning and practice (and a bit of creativity) on the part of the student, or as homework, which likewise demands a certain amount of preparation. Many poorly crafted essays have been produced on account of a lack of preparation and confidence. However, students can avoid the discomfort often associated with essay writing by understanding some common genres.

Before delving into its various genres, let’s begin with a basic definition of the essay.

What is an essay?

Though the word essay has come to be understood as a type of writing in Modern English, its origins provide us with some useful insights. The word comes into the English language through the French influence on Middle English; tracing it back further, we find that the French form of the word comes from the Latin verb exigere , which means "to examine, test, or (literally) to drive out." Through the excavation of this ancient word, we are able to unearth the essence of the academic essay: to encourage students to test or examine their ideas concerning a particular topic.

Essays are shorter pieces of writing that often require the student to hone a number of skills such as close reading, analysis, comparison and contrast, persuasion, conciseness, clarity, and exposition. As is evidenced by this list of attributes, there is much to be gained by the student who strives to succeed at essay writing.

The purpose of an essay is to encourage students to develop ideas and concepts in their writing with the direction of little more than their own thoughts (it may be helpful to view the essay as the converse of a research paper). Therefore, essays are (by nature) concise and require clarity in purpose and direction. This means that there is no room for the student’s thoughts to wander or stray from his or her purpose; the writing must be deliberate and interesting.

This handout should help students become familiar and comfortable with the process of essay composition through the introduction of some common essay genres.

This handout includes a brief introduction to the following genres of essay writing:

• Expository essays
• Descriptive essays
• Narrative essays
• Argumentative (Persuasive) essays