Birds & Pellets

If you have a weak stomach you might not want to read or view the following images, some might consider it gross but this is a part of nature.

Willet expelling a pellet

There are birds that expel pellets of indigestible bits of their food items, the pellets are also called bolus.  The first time I clearly remember seeing a shorebird expel a pellet was this Willet at Fort De Soto's north beach  and I happened to capture an image of it just before it fell to the ground. The pellet contained bits of sand, shell and what appeared to be the shell of small crabs or shrimp. The Willet didn't even stop after the pellet fell, it kept on going down the shoreline.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron right after the pellet was expelled

I came across a Yellow-crowned Night Heron one morning that seemed to me to be acting a little strange, it kept opening its bill and a watery solution was dripping from the nasal passages in the bill.  Soon it bent over, opened its bill and regurgitated a huge pellet.

Yellow-crowned walking over the pellet

Almost immediately after expelling the pellet the Yellow-crowned Heron walked down the beach.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron pellet

After the heron left I walked over and took a few images on the pellet it had expelled. While I certainly couldn't make out everything in the pellet I could see pieces of shells in the bolus.

Northern Harrier about to expel a pellet

One very cold January morning while I was photographing at Farmington Bay WMA here in northern Utah I noticed a Northern Harrier that didn't seem as spooky as most of them are and when I noticed the bird opening and closing its bill repeatedly I hoped it was going to expel a pellet. The light was bad so this series of images aren't the best but I was delighted to capture the action anyway.

The Northern Harrier working hard at expelling a pellet and slips on perch

The Northern Harrier worked so hard at bringing the pellet up that it slipped on the fence rail it had perched on.

Northern Harrier slipping off the perch while trying to expel a pellet

When I took this frame I seriously thought the harrier was going to fall right off the railing and that I might miss seeing the pellet expelled.

Northern Harrier getting its balance back

The Harrier fluttered its wings, I could see the feet trying to get a grip on the railing and that the pellet was still in the bird's bill.

Northern Harrier gets its balance back with the pellet still in the bill

Somehow the Harrier was able to get back on top of the railing and get its balance back with the pellet about to exit the bill.

Northern Harrier watching the expelled pellet fall to the ground

My camera's buffer started to fill up which slowed me down and I didn't get a shot of the pellet just as it exited the bill but this image shows it at the lower edge of the frame on the way to the ground.

As I recall the harrier stayed on the perch for several minutes before it flew away.

Loggerhead Shrike trying to expel a pellet

Earlier this year I spotted a Loggerhead Shrike that allowed a close approach out on Antelope Island State Park, I've learned that with these shrikes if I can get close to them without making them fly that they might be getting ready to let loose with a pellet so I waited. When the shrike started to repeatedly open its bill I knew I better be ready for the action because with shrikes pellet expulsion often happens quickly.

Pellet near the throat

Just two frames later I can see the pellet start to be visible.

Pellet exiting the throat

Two frames after the last image the pellet is nearly out.

Expelled pellet falling to the ground

The very next frame shows the pellet dropping to the ground.

The Loggerhead Shrike seemed to need a bit of time to recover from expelling the pellet unlike the heron which walked away right afterwards.

Swainson's Hawk juvenile about to expel a pellet

My most recent opportunity to photograph a bird expelling a pellet was last month in southwestern Montana in Beaverhead County. I knew where two juvenile Swainson's Hawk were hanging out along with the two adults and went to see if they were around. We found all four of them in their normal location but at least one of them was on the right side of the road for the light because on previous trips the birds were badly back lit.

I saw a lump on the back of the neck of the juvie Swainson's and realized the bird was going to expel a pellet. Not all birds get this lump but I have noticed it on other hawks often before a pellet is expelled.

I was further away from the bird than I would have liked so these images are not the best of quality. Hopefully if there is a next time I will be closer than this to the action, it sure made me wish I had a 500mm lens with a 1.4x TC.

Working hard to get the pellet up

The young Swainson's seemed to be having difficulty.

Part of the pellet showing

In this frame the front part of the pellet is visible.

The pellet emerges

As the pellet emerged I can remember thinking that it seemed to be pretty long.

This juvenile hacked up two pellets

As the pellet dropped to the ground I realized it was hacking up two pellets

The second pellet falling to the ground

Look at how big this pellet was and combined with the first one that fell it was no wonder the neck of the hawk seemed so swollen before got rid of them. It took 4 minutes for the Swainson's to expel the pellets.

A victory pose?

Much like the harrier above this juvenile Swainson's seemed to need time to recover from the process of expelling the pellet. It stayed on the fencepost for several minutes then raised its wings, stretched and soon afterwards flew off. Perhaps it is more difficult for raptors to expel their pellets than shore or songbirds.

One of the expelled pellets

I did take some photos of the pellet after the Swainson's left, since rodents are a part of their diet I wasn't surprised to see so much fur in it. It also had some small bones as well.

Next time you see a bird  repeatedly opening its bill while perched or see a lump on the neck of a raptor you might want to stick around to see if a pellet will be expelled. It isn't pretty but it is downright fascinating!

Mia McPherson
OnTheWingPhotography.com