What Does an Owl Eat?

Have you ever wondered what owls eat? Owls are birds of prey.

They eat many types of animals, mostly small mammals. Their diets can change based on their species, habitat, and location. Oregon, for example, is home to a diverse owl population, including Barn Owls.

At Oregon Owl Pellets, we provide high-quality bulk owl pellets. This offers a unique hands-on learning experience for classrooms. We believe that it's important to educate our youth so they can better understand how to connect with nature.

Hunting for Food: Nighttime Snackers

Owls are adaptive and hunt what’s in their local environment. Most often, their primary food sources include smaller rodents. These rodents often encapsulate the bulk of many owl species' meals.

For example, barn owls hunt field voles, common shrews, and wood mice. These source often comprise over 75% of their meals in some regions. This can also include rats and other birds.

Owls eat many things besides mammals. They eat insects like moths, beetles, and crickets. They also eat birds, from sparrows to larger ones like ospreys. Additionally, they eat reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates like earthworms and snails.

Though what Barn Owls eat is usually a diet of mice, field voles, shrews, rats, and the occasional small bird. Their hunting habits help control rodent populations. Benefiting local agriculture.

Owl’s Digestive Process: That’s A Pellet

Owls cannot digest bones, fur, feathers, and a few other animal parts. Since Barn Owls swallow their food whole so they rely on a special organ, called a gizzard.

The gizzard separates out all the things mentioned before that the owl cannot digest. Then they regurgitate a Pellet.

Learning About Diets Through Owl Pellet Dissection

When broken open, each pellet serves as a unique way to learn firsthand what an owl ate. Owl Pellet Dissection is an exciting ways to explore the question, what does an owl eat?

These natural artifacts contain clues about prey species, hunting patterns, and even an owl’s health. You can collect bones from a dissected pellet. This lets you create your own model of the animal they ate.

Pellet Dissection, Hands-On Discovery

At Oregon Owl Pellets, we offer bulk owl pellets sourced from local barns and the Pacific Northwest. We carefully select our pellets for their high quality. They are a great choice for classrooms, homeschools, or personal projects.

Owl pellet dissection can reveal bones from voles, mice, and more. Whether you're a student, teacher, or nature enthusiast, bulk owl pellet dissection provides an engaging and unique learning opportunity. Turning textbook knowledge into tangible discovery.

That's What An Owl Eats, The Basics

While there are many other factors that can affect an owl's eating habits, like breeding season. Or when owls have hatchlings they must bring food. You should now have a better idea of the basics of the many things Owls eat.

For more reading about Oregon's local owls, check out this post by Oregon's Department of Fish & Wildlife.

About the 15 Species of Owls in Oregon

If you’re interested in learning more about Owl Pellets, check out our What Are Owl Pellets Overview page.