1. Warm Up: Read the passage and answer the questions on the back
Warm Up: Read the passage and answer the questions on the back. This will be your exit ticket. Essential Question: How do we determine what animals eat?

2. Agenda
Warm Up Review
Owl Notes
Owl Video
Review Lab

3. Owl Pellet Notes

4. What is an owl pellet? Owls eat their food whole.
Owls have no teeth, so they cannot chew. They use their strong beaks to tear prey and swallow it whole.

5. The owl digests its meal by separating the softer materials (meat) from the bones.
It regurgitates the harder material with fur and feathers in the form of a pellet

6. How do pellets form? Swallow the prey 1. Catching the prey
Examples: birds, mice, lizards, frogs,
snakes, insects
Swallow the prey
Whole or large chunks

7. 3. Digestion The food travels down the esophagus and into the gizzard
In the gizzard the meal is separated into 2 parts- those that are digestible and those that are now.
Digestible material continues to pass through the owl’s digestive tract. Material that is not digestible is formed into a pellet.

8. 4. Regurgitation
While the owl is regurgitating the pellet, it looks like it is having difficulty breathing. Once the pellet is ejected, the owl settles back into a comfortable position.

9. What’s Inside the Pellet?
Anything that the owl cannot digest…
Examples bones, feathers, and fur

10. Rodents (Mice, Rats, Voles)
Mouse
Rat
Vole (short tail)

11. Mole
Live underground
Large claws for digging
Small eyes

12. Shrew
Pointy nose

13. Food Web

14. Are owl pellets important?
Yes…
Regurgitating owl pellets is a way for the birds to keep their esophagus clean.
The owl pellets allow scientists to learn about the owl’s diet

15. Video

16. Dissection Directions