Birds: Part 2

Owls

Of all bird species, I find owls the most fascinating. This segment of the unit is the one that I was looking forward to the most. I remember dissecting owl pellets in grade school. The few times that I have seen an owl at night in the wild have been very exciting and mysterious. They are silent and powerful predators, and I knew Evie would enjoy learning about them, as well. The highlight of the day was, of course, the dissection, and that took up the most time.

Books

• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
• National Geographic Reader: Hoot, Owl! by Shelby Alinsky
• Owls: Birds of the Night (Penguin Young Readers) by Emily Sollinger
• Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivasan 
• Little Owl's Day by Divya Srinivasan
• Owl Sees Owl by Laura Godwin
• Goodnight, Owl! by Pat Hutchins
• Madame Nightingale Will Sing Tonight by James Mayhew

Activities

• Craft: Toilet paper roll owls. Supplies: toilet paper rolls, construction paper, glue stick, tape, fabric scraps. Wrap the roll in construction paper of any color. Fold in the top of the roll to create the pointed tufts on the head. Glue on eyes from paper (we also found some shiny gold confetti pieces to use). Cut paper beak and glue on. Cut tummy and wing shapes from fabric scraps and glue on. 

• Experiment: Owl pellet dissection! I remembered doing this in elementary school, and thinking that it was very interesting. I thought Evie might enjoy it, as well, and I was correct. We dissected a barn owl pellet, and found two rodent skulls in it! One seems to be from a vole, and the other a rat. The tiny vertebrae and ribs are extremely delicate and fascinating. I explained to Evie how owls (since they don't have teeth) swallow their prey whole. Then, the bits that they cannot digest, such as bones and hair, are regurgitated in pellet form. By dissecting an owl pellet, you can learn about the diet of that particular bird. We ordered ours online, so it had been heated and sanitized, but we still obviously took precautions to keep everything as neat and clean as possible.