1. What do we know about the digestive system of an owl based upon the pellets?
The things I we know about the digestive system of an owl based upon the pellets is owl pellets give us information about the diet of the owl, and provide a habitat for other animals.
2. Owl pellets not only can give us information about the diet of the owl, owl pellets also provide a habitat for other animals, in fact an owl pellet is a little ecosystem all on its own. Why kind of animals are found in the ìowl pellet ecosystem (Hint: read the background at the beginning)
Kind of animals are found in the iowl pellet ecosystem is clothes moths, carpet beetles and fungi are some of the animals found in the ecosystem in owl pellets.
3. Other types of birds form pellets. What would you expect to find in the pellet of a seagull?
I expect to find in the pellet of a seagull is the seagull's pellet would include all the bones and fur and feathers the seagull has eaten.
4. Owls, hawks, and eagles are types of raptors, animals which have hooked beaks and sharp claws, and are therefore adapted for seizing prey animals. Hawks and eagles differ from owls in that they eat their prey animals by tearing them into small pieces, picking out the flesh and avoiding most of the fur and bones. They also have strong stomachs which can digest most of the bone material which they might eat. The relatively small amount of indigestible bone and fur that remain will be compacted by their stomach muscles into a pellet similar to the owl's. Do you think an eagle pellet would be as useful for dissecting as an owl's? Why or why not?
I think an eagle pellet would be as useful for dissecting as an owl's is that an owl tends to swallow what it catches whole if it is small enough (or unless it's feeding its young), and so the pellet contains the bones and fur. Eagles rip their prey to pieces and generally only eat the flesh. So an eagle pellet wouldn't contain much.
5. Construct a diagram of a food web (of at least 5 animals) with an owl at the uppermost trophic level. Use an arrow to show which organism in the consumer or predator.
The things I we know about the digestive system of an owl based upon the pellets is owl pellets give us information about the diet of the owl, and provide a habitat for other animals.
2. Owl pellets not only can give us information about the diet of the owl, owl pellets also provide a habitat for other animals, in fact an owl pellet is a little ecosystem all on its own. Why kind of animals are found in the ìowl pellet ecosystem (Hint: read the background at the beginning)
Kind of animals are found in the iowl pellet ecosystem is clothes moths, carpet beetles and fungi are some of the animals found in the ecosystem in owl pellets.
3. Other types of birds form pellets. What would you expect to find in the pellet of a seagull?
I expect to find in the pellet of a seagull is the seagull's pellet would include all the bones and fur and feathers the seagull has eaten.
4. Owls, hawks, and eagles are types of raptors, animals which have hooked beaks and sharp claws, and are therefore adapted for seizing prey animals. Hawks and eagles differ from owls in that they eat their prey animals by tearing them into small pieces, picking out the flesh and avoiding most of the fur and bones. They also have strong stomachs which can digest most of the bone material which they might eat. The relatively small amount of indigestible bone and fur that remain will be compacted by their stomach muscles into a pellet similar to the owl's. Do you think an eagle pellet would be as useful for dissecting as an owl's? Why or why not?
I think an eagle pellet would be as useful for dissecting as an owl's is that an owl tends to swallow what it catches whole if it is small enough (or unless it's feeding its young), and so the pellet contains the bones and fur. Eagles rip their prey to pieces and generally only eat the flesh. So an eagle pellet wouldn't contain much.
5. Construct a diagram of a food web (of at least 5 animals) with an owl at the uppermost trophic level. Use an arrow to show which organism in the consumer or predator.
