Name: _________________________________ Date: __________________ Period: ________
Owl Pellet Dissection
ANALYSIS
1. Using the class data, determine what is the most numerous prey eaten by the owl.
Redback Shrew
Vole
WhiteFooted
Mouse
House
Mouse
Meadow Mole
Vole
Norway
Rat
Sparrow
2. Assume one owl produces two pellets per day, what is your estimate of the annual food
consumption of a particular barn owl?
3. If all of the pellets studied in class came from the same site, what conclusions could you make
about the rodent population in that area?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Environmentalists are concerned about the accumulation of certain poisons in the bodies of
predators. Why do you think owls, eagles, swordfish, humans, and lions are often the most
threatened organisms of a community that is exposed to DDT or mercury?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
APPLICATION
1. From the information that you have learned about food chains and food webs, construct a food
web that includes an owl and the organisms found by your class.
2. From the food web that you just constructed above, identify at least one organism that would
fill the following trophic levels:
a. Producer -_________________________________________
b. Primary Consumer -_____________________________________
c. Secondary Consumer -________________________________________
3. Suppose a rodenticide enters the ecosystem of the Barn Owl. Predict how this change may
affect the Barn Owl population.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________