Murder mystery: Barn Owl (1 Viewer)

[la_ravachol]

Recently at RSPB Gwenffrwd-Dinas in Wales I stumbled upon a lot of Barn Owl feathers across the ground - clearly a Barn Owl had been murdered! The feathers (including one or two flight feathers) were complete as if they'd been plucked by another raptor, not broken as you'd expect with a mammal. Also at the scene, there was a pellet (not large, but of a reasonable size) containing only Barn Owl feathers and thin white egg shell. Would a raptor have eaten an egg?? None of the feathers in the pellet were broken either, so again, a mammal doesn't appear to be the culprit.

If it's not a raptor and it's not a mammal, what else could have predated the owl? Or was the pellet left by a scavenger? A Raven perhaps? Or could a Raven have even killed the owl?! Do Ravens pluck birds before eating?

It also strikes me as weird to find a pellet at the scene of the crime - why did it hang around so long?

Can anyone help me solve the mystery!

(I'm sure a definitive answer is unlikely, but fun to speculate.)

 

[LillyTr]

Very interesting, would love to see if anyone is able to come up with a theory!
It's fascinating to find out that you're able to determine what the (likely) attacker was based on how the feathers are whole rather than broken; I'm very new to this still, so I feel like I'm constantly learning about things I never would have noticed before.

 

[Farnboro John]

Very interesting, would love to see if anyone is able to come up with a theory!
It's fascinating to find out that you're able to determine what the (likely) attacker was based on how the feathers are whole rather than broken; I'm very new to this still, so I feel like I'm constantly learning about things I never would have noticed before.

Ok, I'll bite. The Barn Owl was eaten at a regularly used plucking post which is why the eggshell in the pellet was at the same place.

The suspect list is most likely: Goshawk, Buzzard (perhaps best suspect as not only an active predator but also an habitual opportunist scavenger), Red Kite, Tawny Owl.

John