What is an owl pellet?

An owl pellet is the regurgitation of undigested material after an owl has had a meal. By examining an owl pellet, ornithologists can find out about the diet of an owl.

Owls often swallow their prey whole. They don't have stomachs, so whatever food they eat goes to their foregut. An owl's digestive juices only have a pH of between 2.2 and 2.5, which is not acidic enough to digest the harder parts of its prey such as the fur, feathers and bones. The species of an owl often determines the size and shape of the owl pellet. An owl will normally regurgitate a pellet before it goes on a hunt. Sometimes, an owl will also produce a smaller pellet at night.