1. BARN OWLS

2. Critical Thinking
You are a wildlife biologist. A group of farmers has come to you for help.
The owl population in the area has increased significantly over the last 2 years.
Half the farmers believe that owls are killing their chickens, especially the young chicks, for food. They want a bounty placed on owls to encourage people to shoot and kill them.

3. Critical Thinking The other half of the farmers say that
the more owls that are around, the
fewer mice and rats they see in their
grain storage bins and less grain is
eaten by the rodents.
They want the state wildlife service to import even more owls into the area.
As a wildlife biologist, how would you collect data to solve this problem?

4. Think, think, think . . .
In order to answer that question, it might be helpful to learn more about the Barn Owl.
Let’s take a closer look at this interesting bird!

5. What Does the Barn Owl Look Like?
Heart-shaped Face
Small Eyes
Long Legs
White Chest and Underside
No Ear Tufts

6. Where Do Barn Owls Live? Barns or Silos Hay Stacks Palm Trees
Abandoned Buildings
Rock Walls
Holes in Cliffs

7. Barn Owls are Predators
A predator is an animal that catches another animal for food.
Some predators include:
Hawks
Eagles
Owls
Snakes
Lions
Alligators

8. What are Prey? The prey are animals that get eaten by predators!
Some prey might include:
Small insects
Rats
Rabbits
Skunks
Birds

9. How Does the Barn Owl Fit into the Food Chain?
All living things depend on each other to live.
The food chain shows how some animals eat other animals to gain energy for survival.
Grasshopper eats grass.
Field mouse eats grasshopper.
Barn owl eats field mouse.

10. How the Food Chain Works:
Grass gets energy from the sun to make its own food (photosynthesis)
Grasshopper gets energy from eating grass.
Snake gets energy from eating the grasshopper.
Hawk gets energy from eating the snake.

11. Barn Owls are Raptors
Raptors are birds that catch their prey with the long claws on their feet. These claws are called “talons”.
Raptors also have: - Hooked beaks - Excellent eyesight - Strong legs and feet
Hawks, eagles, and owls are raptors.
talons
sharp beak

12. How do Barn Owls Hunt?
Barn owls are predators, which means they must kill other animals to survive.
They use their amazing eyesight to hunt at night. But on nights when it is too dark to see very far, they can find prey by listening.
Owls ears are so precise, they can catch a mouse in total darkness, just by hearing its footsteps in the grass!

13. More on Hunting
The barn owl’s wings are made of downy feathers, which muffle the sound as they approach their victim.
They fly low and capture their prey with their feet.
They rip through the back of the skull with their bill.
They prey is swallowed whole.

14. Barn Owl Catching Prey

15. What do Barn Owls Eat? Mice Shrews Voles (meadow mice) Field rats
Insects
Small rabbits
Other small animals
(chickens, maybe?)
shrew
vole

16. What is an Owl Pellet? Owls swallow their prey whole in one big gulp.
Since they can’t digest bones and fur, they cough up these parts of the meal into a compact mass called an owl pellet.
The pellets are approximately two inches long and brownish in color.
                        

17. How are Owl Pellets Made?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th

18. How to Dissect an Owl Pellet
STEP #1:
Tear open your owl pellet very gently.
Be careful not to break any whole bones!
You can use forceps and a probe or . . .
You may pull the owl pellet apart with your fingers.

19. Dissecting an Owl Pellet
STEP #2:
Separate all the bones from the fur with forceps.
When you think you have all the bones out, rub the fur between your fingers.
If you feel anything hard, it’s a bone. You need all of them!

20. Dissecting an Owl Pellet
STEP #3:
Discard the fur.
Take a clean sheet of paper and fold it into six sections.

21. Label your Paper STEP #4: Skulls and jaws Ribs Vertebrae
Hips/shoulders
Legs
Feet and toes

22. Identifying your Bones
Using a diagram of various skeletons, try to identify the bones.
It will be helpful to identify the skull and jaw bones first.

23. Classify your Bones
Arrange the bones on your paper in the appropriate box.
Can you tell how many animals are found in your owl pellet?
remains of 1 skeleton

24. Identify the Animal Types
Could the Barn Owl have eaten a . . .
Chicken?
Mouse?
Shrew?
Vole?
Rat?
Mole?
chicken skeleton

25. Critical Thinking
How were you able to identify what type of animal your Barn Owl ate?
Did the Barn Owl eat a chicken?
What should the farmers do about the Barn Owls?

26. You are now . . . an Owl Expert!