Barn Owl Pellet Contents

We have been privileged that a barn owl has become resident, or at least a frequent visitor, in our barn. It has been doing a good job of keeping the rodent population under control over the winter. We have seen it roosting in the barn on a few occasions, but the main evidence has been the pellets. we decided to have a look at what was inside them and identify what it has been eating. The following photos are the results!

This picture shows all the skulls and mandibles from about 10 pellets. There were of course the rest of the skeletons in the pellets but as the post-cranial bones are much less easy to identify we just collected the heads.

There was a single juvenile rat skull and mandible.

There were two shrew skulls and one set of mandibles. As the teeth are red tipped and considering the size I think these are probably common shrews.

The rest of the skulls and mandibles are voles, a minimum of 22. As the fur within the pellets was grey rather that reddish and given the habitat around the barn I think these are Field voles not Bank voles. I don't have a handy microscope to check the enamel patterns on the teeth to be sure, but if I get them confirmed I will post the result!

This is a rabbit skull and mandibles - not from the owl pellets (!) but from a casualty under a hedge.