Cough it up, Sunday 28th October 2018

I've often commented that you don't have to see a creature to know that it's been around, all animals will leave a clue to their presence, this is no better illustrated than in birds which produce a "pellet" of the indigestible parts of their food.

People are often surprised and often misunderstand what is going on when a bird regurgitates one of these pellets, many think that the bird is vomiting, I guess in a way they are, except of course it's essential to their wellbeing that they remove the indigestible parts of the food via their mouths rather than letting the materials pass right through their gut, think of an owl trying to pass a mouse skull, ouch!

Barn Owl

All sorts of birds produce pellets, here are just a few; Owls, Crows, Gulls, Herons, Kingfishers, Hawks, Falcons and even Penguins (not that we get many of these in Carmarthenshire).

Carrion Crow pellets

This week I watched a bird produce the bright purple pellets in the photograph, they were about the size of a garden pea, I'd be interested if anyone can identify the bird from the pellet.

What bird produced these

Dissecting owl pellets is a great way to engage children, its easy to do, (once you have the pellet) and there are plenty of great reference materials out there to help identify the bones and skulls found, it's not smelly or dirty but washing hands afterwards is a must.

Short-eared Owl pellets, 

with a bird ring from a Meadow Pipit (see a previous blog for the details)

The Field Studies Council, FSC, produce loads of great easy to use guides, including this one on Owl pellets.