1. Period 6
code 17
Barn Owl Pellets
By Ethan Shaw

2. Introduction
In this investigation, we studied the pellet of the Tyto alba, known as the Barn Owl. To catch its prey, the Barn Owl uses its amazing hearing to find the animal, then, it uses it’s silent flight to get close to the animal, then they use the sharp talons or claws to kill and grasp the animal. Finally, it flies back to their nest to eat. Barn Owls eat many rodents and small things such as birds, voles, pocket gophers, mice, shrews, rats, and many other animals. The owls cannot digest the fur and bones, so it is formed into a pellet and comes out of the owls curved, sharp beak. In class, we dissected this to see what was in our owl pellet. After we had got the bones, we found which animal we had and tried to build its skeleton. In this investigation we learned about the Barn Owls diet, adaptations, and what the Barn Owl does to the fur and bones. The Barn Owl is a very interesting animal.

3. Do Saw-Whet owls or Barn Owls eat more?
If both owls eat their average amount of animals in a day, then Barn Owls will eat more.

4. Procedure

5. Prey animal eaten
Pocket Gopher

6. Data Tables

7. Charts

8. Table 7: Comparing Diet of Saw-Whet Owls and Barn Owls
Type of animal eaten 3
Bird
260
233
Vole 37 13
Mice 5 16
Shrew 26 2
Pocket Gopher
331
227
Total

9. Analysis Questions .

10. Conclusion
Barn
Saw-Whet owl
Owl