These owl pellets come from the barn owl (Tyto alba) and were collected as part of an effort to help fund owl conservation.

Unlike humans, owls deal with anything they can’t digest by simply coughing it back up. Since they don’t have teeth, they swallow their prey whole. Their gizzard, a specialized part of the stomach, then sorts out the indigestible bits like bones, teeth, fur, and feathers, compressing everything into a tidy little pellet that gets regurgitated later. Honestly, the idea of an owl with teeth is a little unsettling, so maybe this arrangement is for the best.

Owls are exceptionally good hunters. Specialized feathers allow them to fly almost completely silently, letting them approach prey without giving themselves away. And if you think that’s their only strange adaptation, there’s plenty more where that came from.

For starters, owls don’t really have eyeballs in the traditional sense. They have elongated, tube-shaped eyes held firmly in place inside their skulls. Because those eyes can’t swivel around like ours, an owl has to move its entire head to change where it’s looking. Far from being a disadvantage, this unusual setup gives them excellent depth perception and remarkable vision in low light.

Pair those eyes with near-silent flight, sharp hearing, and a set of formidable talons, and you have an animal perfectly built for hunting from above. Swoop in unheard, grab dinner out of the grass, repeat.

Which brings us back to the pellet in your hand. Inside are the leftovers from a day, or rather a night, well spent hunting from the skies.