Regurgitated pellet!!

[mjb123]

Hi, I was out filling the feeders this morning and found a regurgitated pellet in the feeding tray!!
My question is what type of garden visitor would produce a pellet?

 

[admirable]

Owl?

 

[mjb123]

I can't believe it could be an owl!! I live in quite an urban setting and have never seen one!! Are owls the only birds to do this??

 

[admirable]

Most raptors do this but it's not uncommon for owls to be sitting on or nearby bird tables at night.

Chances are you might have mice nibbling at your nuts during the night and the owls are quick to catch onto this.

We've had them hitting the window in the early hours when they inadvertently set of the security lights.

Open up the pellet, that will give a better clue.

 

[Tringa]

I'm with Admirable; open it up and see what it contains and then, as this is a photography forum, take a shot of it and post on here.

Dave

 

[mjb123]

Will do thanks! I'll get some pics in morning but am away till tues evening so will post them then!!

 

[mjb123]

Well will never no! Went to take pictures of it and its gone!! Not blown out the basket it's just vanished!! What I can say was that it had hair and bird seed wrapped up in it didn't see any bone or insect casings! Would a pigeon or crow or magpie produce such a thing??

 

[hollis_f]

Hair and bird seed? What colour was the bird seed, because it may have been insect parts (their body parts can look very seed-like after having been half-digested).

Little Owls in particular are quite common in urban environments. When I was a kid we lived in the middle of a town and had a Little Owl that, for many years, called throughout the spring from the top of a nearby block of flats. I'm sure it was breeding there.

 

[mjb123]

What I thought seed was a pale opaque colour!! Can't believe it's has gone! It probably blew out and the dog scoffed it!!

 

[killy]

Well will never no! Went to take pictures of it and its gone!! Not blown out the basket it's just vanished!! What I can say was that it had hair and bird seed wrapped up in it didn't see any bone or insect casings! Would a pigeon or crow or magpie produce such a thing??

Hi


INDENTIFYING PELLETS
A pellet is formed from the remains of food that the bird
cannot digest. Instead of getting rid of it as a dropping, it
coughs it up out of its beak. Pellets vary according to the
size of the bird and the type of food it has been eating,
Look for them at roosting, nesting or feeding places.
The pellets left behind by birds such as owls, crows and
hawks vary considerably in size and shape. In addition,
they differ in surface appearance. Rook and crow pellets,
for example, have a loose surface texture, while the
material in owl pellets is bound together much more
closely into a tight mass

Copied from this page

http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/024_bird_pellets.pdf

Interesting stuff

Regards

Mike