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THIS PAGE IS FROM JANUARY’S
BBC WILDLIFE MAGAZINE OUT NOW!
WILD
challenge
PELLETS
Use pellets to learn
which birds are in the
area. How many can
you spot this month?
Share your sightings
at www.discover
wildlife.com/forum
Blackbird
Size 1–2cm
Tightly packed, small, short, ovalshaped; full of insect body parts and
fruit pips. Lawns and feeding sites.
Magpie
Size 3.5–4.5cm
Elongated and pointed; mix of seeds,
bits of grass, insect wingcases, bones
and fur. Lawns and short grassland.
Sparrowhawk
Size 5–6cm
Small – round at one end, pointed
at the other; lots of small feathers.
Below favourite plucking perches.
P
ellets are often confused
with mammal droppings,
or scats, but are in fact
regurgitated undigested food left
by birds. They are usually found
where birds have been feeding,
roosting or nesting, and though
wet and soft when fresh, soon
dry out and harden.
All birds produce pellets,
depending on what they have
been eating, though some are
more obvious than others. The
ones found most frequently are
those from raptors, which feed
on mammals and birds – the
fur, bones and feathers remain
undigested. In other bird species,
fish bones and scales, seeds, plant
matter, shells and insect remains
may all be packaged up into a
single pellet. Some large seabirds,
such as gulls and skuas, swallow
petrels, auks and rodents whole –
subsequent pellets contain almost
intact bones and wings.
Buy our January issue today for a
feature about garden bird behaviour.
Illustrations by Mike Langman
b
Peregrine
Size 2–6cm
Large, thick, round; small body
feathers, sometimes bones. Below
favoured perches on buildings.
Rook
Size 3–4cm
Fibrous; vegetable matter, seeds,
insect remains. Below rookeries
and in fields where the birds feed.
Herring gull
Size 2.5–5cm
Coarse, fibrous, loose, yellow-brown;
grass, insect parts, grain, bones,
skulls, fish bones, scales. Near nests.
Tawny owl
Size 2–5cm
Medium-sized; fur and bones of small
mammals; birds’ skulls and bones.
Below roost and nest sites in trees.
Robin
Size 1cm
Raisin-sized; insects, woodlice, seeds,
centipede parts. Close to nests or
below favourite singing perches.
Kestrel
Size 2–4cm
Small; fur, small mammal bones and
(on heaths) reptile scales and bones.
Below nestboxes and holes in trees.
CAN YOU FIND
ALL TWELVE?
How many of these pellets
can you spot? You can post
your pictures on our forum
and we’ll feature some of
the best in the magazine:
www.discoverwildlife.com
NEXT MONTH’S
WILD CHALLENGE:
ANIMAL DROPPINGS
Great black-backed gull
Size 3.5–5.5cm
Large, loose, fibrous; plant, insect,
fish and mammal remains. Eats
small seabirds and mammals whole.
Buzzard
Size 4.5–6cm
Large; fur and feathers but few bones
as food is picked apart; under trees
and telegraph poles and in fields.
Redshank
Size 1–2cm
Small, moist, loose; crustaceans,
seeds, grit, worms, shell fragments.
Breakwaters, seawalls, mudflats.
TRY THE BRILLIANT
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