Barn Owl Pellets? (1 Viewer)

[Capercaillie71]

I'm reasonably sure that these are barn owl pellets, but I would welcome confirmation as I don't have a lot of experience with owl pellets. Each one measured 4-5cm long by about 3cm wide

 

[vanellus]

One helpful clue is where they were found. OK, Tawny Owls do use buildings as a perch and Barns do sit in trees, but usually a Tawny would user a mature tree in woodland and a Barn would be in or near a building or a tree in a more open situation.

They look OK for Barn. Have a disect and see what the contents are. There may be some clues as to the type of habitat being used.

 

[Capercaillie71]

One helpful clue is where they were found.

Thanks for that. The location was good for barn owl. They were in a derelict building on the moorland edge. Some trees around, but mostly shelterbelts rather than woodland. I had read somewhere that barn owl pellets are more rounded than tawny pellets but not sure if that's true.

 

[Andrew R]

Barn owl pellets are bigger and most are black in colour. Tawny are smaller, greyish, and lack the overall smoothness in appearence that barn owl pellets show