Owls are birds belonging to the order Strigiformes, to which two families correspond: Strigidae, which includes true or typical owls, and Tytonidae, which includes barn owls. Although both groups can be confused and are eventually called indistinctly in one way or another, these families differ in some anatomical features, certain behaviors and distribution ranges. Therefore, in this article on our site we will focus only on owls.
However, one of the most intriguing aspects of these animals is the way they sleep. When do owls sleep? How do they do that? Next, we will answer all these questions and explain how owls sleep, join us and expand your knowledge about these beautiful birds.
Are owls nocturnal?
Owls are birds of prey, that is, their diet is carnivorous, which they do by hunting their prey. This activity is carried out mainly at night, which is why they remain active during these hours. In fact, they have excellent qualities that allow them to move in the dark, mainly their organs of vision, which are highly adapted for this. In addition, they also have a fairly sensitive hearing that allows them to detect their prey easily.
Now, while almost all owls are nocturnal, there are certain species that can be active daytimeSuch is the case of the boreal owl (Aegolius funereus), which, although generally more nocturnal, can eventually become active at dawn and dusk. Discover the types of owls that exist in this other article.
Another example of a diurnal owl is the short-eared owl (Asio flammeus), which looks for food during the day, although it can also do so in the night, for which he is still active. Finally, we can mention the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), which hunts mainly at dawn and dusk, while during the day it tends to preen, to which takes water or dust baths to eliminate the mites that parasitize it.
In this sense, owls sleep during the day when they are active at night, while when they become active during the day, they can rest in intervals of time during the night.
Where do owls sleep?
The place where the owls sleep varies according to the season, since in the breeding season it is common for them to form pairs and stay together while the eggs and then the newborns develop. Thus, although it is not common for these birds to build nests, but rather to use that of other animals or even incubate directly on the ground, during this time they sleep in the nest Generally, it is the male who goes out to hunt and brings food for everyone, but the female can also go out in certain cases. In this sense, when the reproductive pairs are formed, the owls live together during that time and are territorial, so they do not allow them to approach the nest site.
When breeding is over and the pups become independent, sleeping patterns may vary depending on the species. Some examples that allow us to see this variety in terms of where owls sleep are the following:
- The boreal owl (Aegolius funereus), for example, sleeps in treesof the forests where it lives, in fact, it depends on the vegetation for all its activities. It only joins another specimen in the breeding season, the rest of the time they stay quite far away from each other.
- The short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) has a different behavior in terms of how it sleeps, because in the winter time the species forms communal roosts where they share space, which is usually on grassland soils where this species is generally found. The rest of the year, they can stay close or keep aloof on their own.
- The northern long-eared owl (Asio otus) forms pairs during the breeding season and tolerates other pairs staying close, for what they sleep closely in the trees where they perch. When this season passes, they can stay together up to groups of about 20 individuals in the same tree, so that they share the space to rest.
In this way, owls sleep depending on the place where they spend most of their time, since some are more terrestrial, in the sense that they perch directly on the ground, while others prefer to stay in trees because they tend to inhabit dense forests.
How do owls sleep?
Adult owls have strong claws, which, when they live in trees, they use to perch and hold on to branches. In this sense, those that develop in vegetation sleep on trees supported by their claws When they are small, newborns can be seen, sometimes lying down in the nest. In fact, snowy owl owls are known to sleep lying on their stomachs. This behavior has been associated with the fact that their heads are large, that when they are newborns they have difficulty staying upright all the time, especially when they go to sleep.
Owls with terrestrial habits sleep directly on the ground because, despite flying agilely, they perch on grasslands. Others, on the other hand, sleep in rocky areas or caves that they use to live.
Do owls sleep with their eyes open?
An interesting fact that allows us to know if owls sleep with their eyes open or closed is that they have very large eyes and their ocular anatomy does not allow them to move them, so they must move their heads to be able to see to the side or behind. On the other hand, these birds have three eyelids, two of which are external and one internal. The upper one allows them to blink, something they don't do as often; the lower one they close to sleep; while the third, which is the external one, helps them with the cleaning of the eyes. In this way these animals are able to close their eyes.
How long does an owl sleep?
It has not been reported exactly how many hours owls sleep, however, it is known that when they are newborns and during the first weeks of life usually sleep much more than when they are adults. On the other hand, although the little owls may begin to explore the environment and move away from the nest, they tend to return to sleep together.
The species of these birds that are more nocturnal sleep during the day, but sleep by intervals, that is, they do not sleep continuous hours Instead, they wake up from time to time and continue their rest. Species with diurnal habits sleep in the same way, but at night.
Now that you know how owls sleep, keep digging and find out What owls eat and Where owls live, you'll be surprised!
