Still Waiting

Happy Valentines Day to all ♥ Unfortunately we had no live stream last night. I know, bummer huh? We are still waiting for some action on the side branches where we can see. It seems so far that Salt has been very elusive. Perhaps this weekend...Talons crossed!! In the meantime I will continue with some interesting information on the digestive system of an owl.

How a pellet is formed:

 * Owls cannot chew food - they swallow small prey whole, larger prey is torn        into smaller pieces before being swallowed.
 * Owls have no Crop. A crop is a loose sac in the throat where food is stored for
  later consumption. For owls, the food goes directly into their digestive system.
 * Here's how it works:



 1. Swallowing the prey
Food is forced down the buccal, where muscle contractions (peristalsis), at top of esophagus pull it down into the proventriculus.

2. First Stomach (Proventriculus)
The first stomach, receives the food and secretes mucus, hydrochloric acid (HCL), and pepsinogen, prepares the food for the move to the ventriculus.

3. Ventriculus (gizzard)
Receives the food next. The gizzard is lined with tough, thick layers of muscle, it grinds and pushes the food into the inner chamber. Digestable materials are separated and passed into the small intestine. The remaining indegistible mass of fur and bones is left to form the pellet.

4.Regurgitation
8 to 10 hours later, the pellet travels from the ventriculus back up to the proventriculus, where peristalsis forces the pellet up the esophagus and out the mouth.

 

Pepper bringing up pellet

Barn Owl Pellet

Identification Chart