truthseqr's Journal

On Friday (2023-07-07) my granddaughter and I saw two barn owls in a large pine tree. There were three nests - one was about 2-3 times the size of the others. A juvenile was next to the largest nest staring down at us. We briefly saw an adult flap its wings and then settle down into one of the smaller nests. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera that day, so we went back on Wednesday (2023-07-12). We didn't see the owls, but evidence of their presence was there: bird droppings on the sidewalk, many feathers and we counted 9 owl pellets.

• Featherbase (Germany/Europe-based): https://www.featherbase.info/en/home

• Slater Wing and Tail Collection:
  http://digitalcollections.pugetsound.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/slaterwing

• The Feather Atlas: https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/

• Barn Owl Feathers
  ** Barn Owl primaries (female)
  https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=BNOW_primary_dkfemale (dark)
  https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=BNOW_primary_ad_female (light)
  ** Barn Owl secondaries (female)
  https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=BNOW_secondary_dkfemale (dark)
  https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=BNOW_secondary_ad_female (light)
  ** Barn Owl tail feathers (female)
  https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=BNOW_tail_dkfemale (dark)
  https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=BNOW_tail_ad_female (light)
  ** Barn Owl primaries (male)
  https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=BNOW_primary_male
  ** Barn Owl secondaries (male)
  https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=BNOW_secondary_male
  ** Barn Owl tail feathers (male)
  https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/feather.php?Bird=BNOW_tail_male

What do Barn Owls Eat?
Barn owls eat mainly small mammals such as voles, mice, shrews, gophers, and small rats. They also occasionally eat bats, rabbits, and insects such as crickets and grasshoppers.

What is an Owl Pellet?

• Audubon Podcast: What Is an Owl Pellet?
• Coastside Land Trust: Owl Pellets

Dissecting Owl Pellets

• The Cornell Lab: Owl Pellet Teaching Tips
• Owl Pellet Bone Identification Chart (download)

How to identify bones found in an owl pellet:

• Barn Owl Pellet Analysis (video)
• What’s in your owl pellet?
• A Skeletal Comparison of Selected Small Mammals
• Owl pellet contents: small mammal bone identification guide
• Skull Identification (with good references)
• Owl Pellet Rodent Bone ID Chart

On Friday, July 7, 2023 my granddaughter and I saw two barn owls in a large pine tree at Ed Levin County Park. There were three nests - one was about 2-3 times the size of the others. A juvenile was next to the largest nest staring down at us. We briefly saw an adult flap its wings and then settle down into one of the smaller nests. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera that day, so we went back on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. We didn't see the owls, but evidence of their presence was there: many feathers and owl pellets. I decided to create this project to collect observations of this owl family and their feathers & pellets.

Also see this journal post with photos:
https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/82095-barn-owls