Share This Article
The question of how owls sleep? is often asked. This article will answer that question with a few more facts on owls as well.
Hunting
Most owls are nocturnal hunters and therefore they sleep during the day. With exception of snowy owls and a few others, who are day time hunters due to their environment.
The most common prey for owls is small rodents, such as mice and voles. They are also known for taking frogs, snakes, lizards, birds, fish and rabbits.
Their stealth in hunting is helped by the silence of their wing beat due to specialized feather structures which can modify the air flow over the wings, thereby reducing the noise.
Sleeping
So with this in mind if they’re mostly hunting at night, then it follows they will sleep during the day for around 10 -12 hours sleep. They will have their own place in a tree, maybe a hollow out bit in a tree as shown in the picture above, or it could be a barn, or an abandoned building. they will use this as their roost and where they will sleep.
Although for the burrowing owl, they will sleep underground in a burrow they have dug or that may have been used previously by another animal.
Adult owls sleep standing up, their head may tilt forwards, while they snooze with their eyes closed.
It has been reported that owlets have been observed sleeping flat on their fronts to help them rest. However in the main they will sleep learning against its siblings in the nest or tree hollow, as seen in the photograph above and below.
So how do owls not fall out of the nest or tree when sleeping, you might ask.
Well unfortunately for some owlets they do end up at the bottom of the tree, possibly by accident. However owls have some help in holding on, by means of their toes and talons. They have four toes, one of which is at the back of the foot, known as the hallux.
As you can see from the drawing above, this toe and talon act like a hook, helping the owl hold on to a branch while sleeping. Additionally they have one toe on each foot that is reversible and can either be forward pointing or they can move it back. This is helpful when catching prey ensuring it doesn’t wriggle free.
In summary
In this article we have answered the question of “How do owls sleep?”
We have noted that some prefer barns or abandoned buildings as well. Additionally owlets may sleep on the front whilst growing and getting strong enough to support their heads.
We have also seen that most owls are nocturnal hunting and therefore sleep during the day. In addition how their feathers aid in a silent flight, and being more successful.