This week’s post comes to us from Lakin, a monthly blog correspondent and Ursids alumni. She writes about barn owls, delving deeper to give us a look into the feeding habits and diets of these nocturnal creatures.
Lakin P.
A Barn Owl eats mostly small mammals. The top three things that are eaten in a Barn Owls diet are Field Voles, Common Shrews, and Wood Mice. Field Voles are about 45% of a Barn Owl diet. Common Shrews are about 20% of the diet. Wood Mice are about 15% of the diet.
Barn Owls are really different when it comes to eating. Barn Owls eat there prey whole but cannot digest the bones or fur. They regurgitate out the bones and fur in a pellet. A Barn Owl typically eats 3-4 prey a nightly. When it is breeding season they will get about the same for the owlet.
Barn Owls typically hunt in rough grasslands, which provide lots of small mammals, they look in vole holes. Vole Holes are easiest to spot between November to March. During the summer, crops and hay meadows can be good hunting. In bad weather Barn Owls hunt around farms. They will hunt from dusk to dawn.
Photo credit: Chris Parker – original photo can be found by clicking here.
Barn Owls
Posted: January 17, 2017 by Katie Cassidy
This week’s post comes to us from Lakin, a monthly blog correspondent and Ursids alumni. She writes about barn owls, delving deeper to give us a look into the feeding habits and diets of these nocturnal creatures.
A Barn Owl eats mostly small mammals. The top three things that are eaten in a Barn Owls diet are Field Voles, Common Shrews, and Wood Mice. Field Voles are about 45% of a Barn Owl diet. Common Shrews are about 20% of the diet. Wood Mice are about 15% of the diet.
Barn Owls are really different when it comes to eating. Barn Owls eat there prey whole but cannot digest the bones or fur. They regurgitate out the bones and fur in a pellet. A Barn Owl typically eats 3-4 prey a nightly. When it is breeding season they will get about the same for the owlet.
Barn Owls typically hunt in rough grasslands, which provide lots of small mammals, they look in vole holes. Vole Holes are easiest to spot between November to March. During the summer, crops and hay meadows can be good hunting. In bad weather Barn Owls hunt around farms. They will hunt from dusk to dawn.
Photo credit: Chris Parker – original photo can be found by clicking here.
Category: Youth Blog Tags: birds, education, nature observation, outdoors, Ursids, wildlife, youth