We monitored the diet of barn owls at Ed Levin County Park from July through September 2023. Here are the results:

Also, surprisingly, several wild oat (Avena) florets were found inside 6 pellets. Puzzling!

Updated 10/8/2023.

What do Barn Owls Eat?
Barn owls eat mainly small mammals such as voles, mice, shrews, gophers, and small rats. They also occasionally eat bats, rabbits, and insects such as crickets and grasshoppers.

What is an Owl Pellet?

• Audubon Podcast: What Is an Owl Pellet?
• Coastside Land Trust: Owl Pellets

Dissecting Owl Pellets

• The Cornell Lab: Owl Pellet Teaching Tips
• Owl Pellet Bone Identification Chart (download)

How to identify bones found in an owl pellet:

• Barn Owl Pellet Analysis (video)
• What’s in your owl pellet?
• A Skeletal Comparison of Selected Small Mammals
• Owl pellet contents: small mammal bone identification guide
• Skull Identification (with good references)
• Owl Pellet Rodent Bone ID Chart