Significance

• In general, owl pellets look like balls of gray or brown fluff, typically about the size of a golf ball, scattered on the ground. The balls, which are either spherical or elliptical in shape, are composed of hair, fur, bones, skin, fecal matter or any other undigested material that the owl regurgitated.
  
  

Purpose

• Owls and other birds produce pellets to remove indigestible material from their stomach. For example, bones, teeth, and the claws of tiny rodent prey items cannot pass through the owl's digestive tract without possible causing issues (like an internal puncture), so the owl simply regurgitates all the material into a little ball known as the pellet.
  
  

Contents

• Most pellets contain the bones and hair of rodents, as rodents are a staple of the diet of most owls and other raptors. However, pellets may also contain undigested plant matter, teeth, feathers, bills; essentially any indigestible material from a prey item like a rodent or smaller bird. There have even been reports of bird bands, which are often placed around the foot of domesticated birds for identification, being found in owl pellets.
  
  

Other Birds

• Many other birds produce pellets, as it's a common method for eliminating indigestible material and alleviating any potential gastrointestinal issues. Hawks also produce pellets, as do other birds like grebes, gulls, herons, kingfishers, crows, jaws, swallows and virtually any bird that lives near the seashore. All of their pellets vary in size in accordance with the size of the bird's meal.
  
  

Study

• Owl pellets are very useful to ornithologists as they can analyze their components and make determinations about the animal's eating habits. Examining owl pellets allows scientists to study the diet of birds without dissecting a bird itself.