Posted by Mary Machado on March 7, 2006

Q: We found several owl pellets in an area where we believe there may have been baby owls nesting. Along with the larger pellets there were many very small pellets. Upon dissecting them we found that they contained fur only - no bones, etc. Could these be pellets from baby owls and would they contain no bones if the parents had torn peices of flesh only from a larger animal to feed the young? I can find no information specifically on pellets from baby owls - how are the different (size, contents, etc.) from adult owls?

A: I think you've got this figured out correctly - the smaller pellets are most likely from the young. You're right, initially the young are fed bits and pieces torn from prey so their pellets wouldn't have bones, at least not many, in them. Over time as the young grow, their food would contain larger and larger pieces and their pellets would contain the bones of their prey. Keep in mind too that it is not just owls that produce pellets, but hawks do too. You may have had a hawk nesting there rather than owls. You didn't say where you live so I can't know whether it's likely that you have babies right now or that these pellets were from last year. In the northern states, Great Horned Owls begin nesting in February and the young hatch in early spring. In the South, Great Horned Owls may nest at almost any time of year. Thanks for sharing and I hope we have your question cleared up.

John Wiessinger ( March 7, 2006)