December 8, 2005
What's that owl eating?
I went out to the South Jetty of the Columbia River a couple days ago to look for Snowy Owl pellets. There are now four Snowies at the jetty, so I figured there should be a few pellets. For the uninitiated, owls, as well as other raptors swallow their prey either whole or in very large chunks, bones, fur, feathers and all. The undigestible parts are coughed up in a furry, cylindical bolus.
I was able to find 7 pellets at two location. Upon examination I found skulls and long bones from Black Rats (Rattus rattus).
Black Rat is an introduced species in Oregon, though one that's probably been part of the local fauna for a couple hundred years, at least since European ships began mooring in the Columbia River Estuary and doing business with the local indigenous populations. Given the presence of numerous fat and juicy California Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi) as well as several vole and mouse species, it's surprising that the Snowies seem to be focusing on the Black Rats.
Follow the Snow Owl links to see a Snowy Owl yacking up a pellet at Scott Carpenter's photo site.
Posted by mbalame at December 8, 2005 3:19 PM