Some time ago, when watching the birds in my garden I was surprised to see a European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) regurgitate a pellet. Why did it do this? The pellet appeared to be composed of grit, the exoskeletons of small insects, small seeds and other vegetable matter and was about 9mm in length (Fig. 1). Lack (1970) states that pellet production by the European Robin is not infrequent and describes similar contents to the above for four pellets. Owls are perhaps better known as producers of pellets but this is a widespread phenomenon among birds, occurring commonly in raptors, crows, gulls, waders, herons, shrikes, cuckoos, kingfishers and storks (Brown et al. 1999). For owls in particular, where pellets are often produced on a regular basis at the birds' daytime roosting site, these can be of considerable value in providing information about diet.
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