As an aspiring wildlife tracker I want to know about the signs that animals leave behind. Due to my annoyingly excitable curiosity this includes all animals, and all types of sign. This includes the regurgitated masses of undigested food that makes up a bird pellet.

When it comes to pellets, I have found a couple before. Some full of hair, assorted skulls and other bones, feather parts and even a couple full of seed husks from plants. But when it comes to sorting out who left these pellets behind, there is an extraordinary lack of resources to help folks figure it out.

I got excited to interview Ed Drewitt again. His new book Bird Pellets, out now on Pelagic Publishing, has tons of photos, lots of detailed info and some great hints on how to identify the makers of the pellets we find. While the book was written with a British and Irish context in mind, there are many overlaps with Turtle Island/North American species which I find quite helpful.

As for Ed? He is a professional naturalist, wildlife detective, and broadcaster for the BBC. He has been studying urban Peregrines for over 15 years, and looking into the contents of bird pellets for even longer. He has been on the show before and has been a great help in answering some of my ornithological mysteries pertaining to Peregrine Falcons in the past. It was nice to reconnect over his great new book.

To learn more :
Ed Drewitt’s website
Bird Pellets book website
Ep. 142 : Raptor Prey Remains with Ed Drewitt
Blog post on predated Herring Gull which I consulted with Ed on to determine the predator.