ML523703841
Contributor
Kris Blachowiak Media from this contributor Profile
Date
Location
Island Safari Lodge
North-West, Botswana
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
- Behaviors
- Foraging or eating
- Sounds
- Call
- Tags
- Habitat
- Playback
- Playback not used
Media notes
There's a chance you may have witnessed an interesting behaviour where the owl stretched its neck, held its beak agape, hunched over (seemingly gagging), and perhaps shook its head, dropping a dark object from its mouth. This action is called casting, and the dark object that projected from the owl's beak is called a pellet. The indigestible food items (fur, feathers, bone, teeth, etc) are compressed in the owl's stomach for several hours and will stay for up to 10 hours before being regurgitated. Once the pellet is cast, the digestive process is finished and the owl is able to feed again
Technical information
- Camera
- Nikon D500
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 109.57 MB