Pellet ...but who made it?

[British Red]

Genuine enquiry this one. I have been erecting a number of types of owl box as some of you know. This was found on the floor of a roofless barn where I have put a barn owl box...but I'm not convinced its a Barnies.

We have seen sparrow hawk, kestrel, barn owl, tawny owl and little owl in the area

What do you think?

Red

 

[locum76]

A bit loose for tawny owl, the bones in the pellet seem to be of small rodents though...

 

[_scorpio_]

open it see what there is... i think i see a beak so im going for sparrowhawk.

 

[British Red]

Yeah I thought that - and maybe a feather or it could be a rodent tail thats hairy. Sadly I'm on client site for a few days and the wife mailed me the pic.

I'll ask her to take it apart when I get a chance

Red

 

[jdlenton]

can you give us a scale red please

 

[British Red]

Funny you asked that, just got off the phone

Scale

Contents....nothing beaky but certainly toothy.....

Hmmmm owlish?

 

[_scorpio_]

fur and rat bits... could still be a kestrel though..

 

[sam_acw]

I remember pulling them apart when I was in infant school. We must have had a pretty enlightened teacher!

 

[Barn Owl]

More like kestrel to me.

 

[JonathanD]

I'm 99% Barn owl with that one. Kestrels, it's far too wide and compact. It's certainly too fat for Tawny and not enough invertebrate material for this time of year to be Little. If their are skulls inside then that would take it. 1% Kestrel though.

 

[Barn Owl]

I think it's a bit small and open for a Barn Owl,even old ones usually keep their firmness.

 

[JonathanD]

I think it's a bit small and open for a Barn Owl,even old ones usually keep their firmness.

I'd agree if it wasn't for the weather. It's been very dry for some weeks now which leads to this happening in owl pellets and diurnal raptors. I can see a Barn owl using a nest as a temporary roost, but not a Kestrel. If there are one or no skulls in there I would go with Kestrel, if there are two plus skulls, I would say certainly Barney.

 

[British Red]

Crtainly no whole skulls inside but things that are "skull bits" Definitely jaw pieces - lower and upper and what look like other skull fragments. Certainly more than one jaw bone

Does that help?


Thanks for all the insights guys

Red

 

[JonathanD]

Crtainly no whole skulls inside but things that are "skull bits" Definitely jaw pieces - lower and upper and what look like other skull fragments. Certainly more than one jaw bone

Does that help?


Thanks for all the insights guys

Red

Yeah, if there are no whole or at least partial skulls in it, it would suggest that it is Kestrel. Kestrels peck the head to bits to swallow it, and Barn owls obviously, swallow the lot whole. The only damage you see to the skulls are the craniums pecked in. I don't think I've ever opened an owl pellet of that size without finding at least 3 or four + skulls in it. Like this....

 

[superc0ntra]

Definitely Owlish but I'm not familiar enough with British Owls to be able to specify.

 

[British Red]

There are two largish skull fragments (similar to those shown) but no more. I suspect we are veering towrds kestrel.

 

[Barn Owl]

Barn owl and Kestrel often share the same site for nesting.

I've had one in the box and the other in the top of the wall in old byres and vica versa.

We often put up two boxes in a site to accommodate both spp.

 

[British Red]

Well now - thank you Gents for your input. I don't count myself a complete novice when it comes to wildlife observation but I'm learning a lot here.

I am delighted to find that I might see a kestrel in one of the boxes I am establishing......

Does anyone know whether I would regularly find pellets around the box if a kestrel is using it?

Regards - Red

 

[JonathanD]

Does anyone know whether I would regularly find pellets around the box if a kestrel is using it?

Regards - Red

You should do, they are right messy buggers.