Greensboro Birds

I found this owl pellet today at the base of what has become a reliable pellet-finding tree (actually, that tree and several trees near it). As usual, I noted a small pile of broken branches and bark pieces, giving me a clue that an owl had roosted there. If anyone knows why owls make such a mess beneath their roosts, please offer up your info in the comments.

It seems that many of this site’s visitors enjoy looking at owl pellets, so here’s a nice big photo of today’s find. Note that it’s rounder than the barred owl pellet I dissected a few weeks ago. It’s also quite compact and a little shiny. That grossed me out a little, to be honest. [See the pellet contents after the jump.]

Jody from KidWings (my favorite site for pellet dissection) clued me in to this downloadable bone chart from Carolina Biological Supply, which is just down the road from Greensboro, in Burlington. This chart includes four different species.

As I began opening up the pellet, a small beetle scurried out, scaring the bejeezus out of me for a sec. I’ll admit that I squished it. Hey, I do this stuff in my house. Anyway, this pellet contained many fewer bones than my last dissection—only 13—so it didn’t take long to extract them all. These bones, however, are much larger than the last pellet’s. Also, note the brownish color, whereas the previous bones were white. These bones are also quite shiny, while the others were dull.

Check out the top pair of bones. See how the ball fits perfectly into the socket? Shape-wise, these seem to match the rodent bones more closely than the others on the chart. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Here they are connected and with a ruler for scale.

The pellet contained these four small bones. Ribs, maybe? I’m not convinced. Could be from the feet.

And two small bones, possibly vertebrae. From the tail?

This is the pile of fur that was left once I removed all the bones.

I don’t know which bird is roosting in the tree where I found this pellet, but odds are it’s either a Barred Owl or Great Horned Owl, since I’ve heard both in that area. I plan to go out there in the evening or early morning to see if the bird is around. Of course, you’ll be the first to hear if I spot it.