Owls are beautiful animals; they have long stunning wings, razor sharp talons and keen black eyes. Owls are a very interesting bird on the outside and on the inside. Our 7th grade class has been working on a lab for the past month and we have come to the sadly come to the end of our unit and our lab. Our 7th grade class has dissected owl pellets and analyzed them very carefully, in the past month we have learned a lot about owls and the interesting digestive system they have in their body. Owls are nocturnal, this means that they sleep in the day and hunt at night just like bats. Owls also have a special way of eating its prey, instead of taking small bites, the owl eats its prey whole. The owl’s stomach is very strong; it digests the animal leaving only the bones and fur. After this process is finished, the owl then regurgitates the fur and bones to what leave a pellet, an owl pellet.
After the brief introduction about owls I will now tell you about the Barn Owls meal. The owl that regurgitated the pellet was a Barn owl. I have created a pie chart to help explain what the owl ate.
Questions
Based upon the class data, rank the most frequently consumed prey for the class “owl population”.
Based upon the class data the most frequently consumed animal was the rat, it ranked 40% in the cumulative total biomass. This could mean that around the place where these Barn owls live is a big population of rats, maybe even a problem for the people living around the forest where the owls live. These Barn owls could be a huge help for anyone who has problems with rats. It could also mean that the population of Barn owls could be high and the rat population could be at risk of being over eaten.
A predator expends energy when hunting for food. Which is more “energy expensive” cuisine, 35 insects at 1 gram each or one 35 gram vole?
In my opinion I think I would rather eat a 35 gram vole than 35 1 gram insects because the amount of effort of chasing down the 35 insects would be much greater than just chasing down one vole. The animal that is considered more “energy expensive” would be the insects, if you think about it, when you ketch one insect you have to go and find another because one insect isn’t enough, in the end you would probably burn off the energy the first insect gave you before you could find the next insect. So eating a 35 gram vole is a lot easier and more energy efficient.
Try to define the food-getting “strategy” for a predator.
Each predator has a very unique way of seeking out its prey. The bat has very poor sight but its hearing is very good and that is what leads him to his midnight snack. Natural selection is like Mother Nature’s gift to all the animals in order for them to survive. Natural selection is the characteristic that gives the predator the ability to survive; these include genetic qualities that are best suited for that particular environment. Mother Nature’s gift the owl the amazing eyes which allows the owl to see well in the dark.
Based upon your data, suppose the shrew population seriously declined, would it affect the areas of the owl population?
On our information no, it would probably not affect the owl’s diet. That doesn’t mean that the other animals in the forest that eat the shrew aren’t affected. The owl pellets found were probably found around the same area, maybe the reason why the shrew were not a dominate substance in the owls diet is maybe because of the amount of shrew in the area. If the population of the shrew was low in the area where those owls lived and the owl population wasn’t effected that means the shrew did not play a big role in the owls diet.
| Here is a diagram of a Barn Owl's diet. This picture shows what the owl eats and how energy flows from the primary consumers all the way up to the Top predator. |
Conclusion
The investigation on Food Webs and Owl Pellets I thought was so much fun! I thought it was very interesting and cool to learn about!! As I said before owls are beautiful creatures, they have adapted to live and hunt at night this makes them very good at hunting at night. The are often referred to as the "flying mouse trap." This is because the are so good at hunting. Owl pellets provide a clue to owls’ diet and the role in their ecosystem, this helps scientists help calculate the population of, for example the rat population. Also by studying the owl pellet we can kind of understand how the owl's digestive system works.
The investigation on Food Webs and Owl Pellets I thought was so much fun! I thought it was very interesting and cool to learn about!! As I said before owls are beautiful creatures, they have adapted to live and hunt at night this makes them very good at hunting at night. The are often referred to as the "flying mouse trap." This is because the are so good at hunting. Owl pellets provide a clue to owls’ diet and the role in their ecosystem, this helps scientists help calculate the population of, for example the rat population. Also by studying the owl pellet we can kind of understand how the owl's digestive system works.
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