Owl pellet preparation lesson

Owl Pellets 2024
BIS - MYP4

Science Hands-on Ecology Lab

Facts of a Barn Owl

What do you know about owls and owl pellets?​

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Owl Pellets 2022 Science Hands-on Ecology Lab 2022

Science Hands-on Ecology Lab

Multiple Choice

Where do Barn Owls live?

• Antarctica

• all continents except Antarctica

• Only Ms. Gough's home

The barn owls live on every continent except Antarctica.

Barn Owl's Habitats

They are found in farm lands, grasslands,
marshes, deserts and suburbs.

Multiple Choice

Are the barn owls diurnal or nocturnal?

• diurnal-awake during the day

• nocturnal - awake during the night

Owls are nocturnal

What is an Owl Pellet?

• An owl pellet is the waste that is

regurgitated, or spit up.

Multiple Select

What are the owl's adaptations during the night?

• Owls can see their prey.

• Owls can hear their prey all around.

• Owls have silent flights.

• Owls have strong talons to catch prey.

Owls' adaptations

Owls can hear prey under the snow or at a specific location.

Owls can rotate their heads. They can keep their eyes on prey easily.

Owls have the silent flight.

When a prey sees a white face, it freezes and hopes an owl does not see it. This is a good chance for the owl to catch the prey.

Multiple Select

Which human eyes or owl eyes are bigger?

• Owl eyes are bigger than human eyes

• Human eyes are bigger than owls.

• Both are the same size

Owl's Eyes and Ears

A two pound owl has eyes the same size as the

human eye. Both the eyes and the ears are

located at the front of the head which enhances

the owl’s vision and hearing.

Owl's Eyes and Ears

The feathers around their eyes and ears are
shaped to funnel light and sound to their eyes

and ears more precisely.

Multiple Select

How far can they hear a mouse’s footsteps?

• 90 feet

• 10 feet

• 3 feet

Owl's Hearing

Their sense of hearing is so acute. They can hear a mouse’s footsteps 90 feet away. They are flying 10 feet over the field in total darkness.

Multiple Select

Can a barn owl digest bones, furs, and feathers when it eats a rat or a bird?

• YES

• NO

Multiple Choice

An owl is is considered to be a raptor or _______________.

• mammal
• bird of prey
• cold blooded
• reptile

Let's finish our Owl Pellet Investigation. (Day 2)

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First let's do a quick review!

Can you answer these questions about the Owl Pellets?​

Owl Pellet Ecology Hands-on Lab

Multiple Choice

Owls catch their prey in their:

• talons
• beaks
• wings
• none of the above

Multiple Choice

An owl chews its food.

• true
• false

Multiple Choice

Because they cannot digest fur, bones, or feathers, they regurgitate a

• seed
• stone
• pellet

Multiple Choice

The pellet is found:

• on the ground where owls live

• in high places

Owl Pellet Dissection

Bones To Look For

Multiple Choice

You can discover what an owl has eaten by dissecting an owl pellet and recovering the prey's:

• skull
• teeth
• leg bones
• all of the above

Multiple Choice

Which of these birds produce pellets like owls do?

• Eagle

• Robin

• Duck

• Gold Finch

Multiple Choice

About how many pellets does an owl produce in one day?

• 1-2

• 2-4

• 3-6

• 5-8

Multiple Choice

Why do owls cough up the pellet?

• they can't digest it

• they don't like the taste of it

• they are too full

• to scare other birds

Multiple Choice

Name these bones.

• Vertebrae

• Femurs

• Radius

• Ribs

Multiple Choice

Why do owls need to hunt at night rather than the day?

• There is less competition.
• They have special adaptions to hunt in the dark.
• It is easier to fly around unseen.
• All of the above.

Multiple Choice

Other things that can be found in pellets are:

• flesh and organs
• dirt, sand, and rocks

Multiple Choice

The process of energy being captured by plants from the sun and then transferred from one organism to the next in the food chain is called __________.

• food flow

• energy flow

• nutrient flow

• water flow

Multiple Choice

What do we call organisms that eat other living things in order to get energy?

• decomposers

• producers

• consumers

• processors

Multiple Choice

Organisms that get energy by eating only other animals are called __________.

• omnivores

• herbivores

• carnivores

• producer

Multiple Choice

All food chains begin with energy received from the __________.

• rain

• moon

• sun

• soil

Multiple Choice

In the following diagram, the arrows show the transfer or flow of __________ from one organism to another.

• energy

• water

• eggs

• air

Multiple Choice

A food web is __________.

• a system of carnivores

• a web of plants

• a system of animals

• a system of overlapping food chains

Multiple Choice

If one animal in a food chain dies, that will __________.

• affect all the animals in the food chain

• affect few of the animals in the food chain

• affect only the plants

• not affect any other animal