“Sharing this video of a Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) in the process of casting a pellet. It was made with a few still images that were taken in sequence.
“It was an amazing experience and my pleasure to watch this confiding shrike from close. It took just 10 seconds from the time it started to gape slightly until the pellet was held briefly in its beak. The pellet was then dropped onto the ground below.
“The pellet is made up of compacted indigestible remains of food that the shrike had taken earlier. Instead of going through its digestion system and passed out through its rear, it is cast or regurgitated out from its mouth.”
Kwong Wai Chong
Singapore
10th March 2013
Sun Chong Hong
Thumbs up for the video.
Kim Mosabe
Are you sure it is not a pallet from her juvenile?
Bird Ecology Study Group Brown Shrike impales caterpillar
[…] Caterpillar is a favourite food with birds. However, the stomach contents are usually removed before swallowing. One end of the caterpillar is bitten off and the caterpillar is then passed back and forth between the mandibles. Hairy caterpillars are gently swiped against the branch, again to remove the stomach contents. The hairs are swallowed with what is left of the caterpillar to be later (together with other indigestible materials in the case of other prey) regurgitated as a pellet. […]