Friday Feathered Fact
Daytime or Nighttime? The general belief is owls are nocturnal where they sleep by day and hunt by night. However, this is not true for many species of owls. Examples of diurnal (daytime active) owls include our Burrowing Owl and the Northern Pygmy-Owl. Most of their activity occurs when the sun is up. For some other birds, there is different type of behavior known by a nifty word: Crepuscular. Derived from Latin meaning “twilight”, this refers to being active in the twilight hours of sunset and sunrise. The Short-eared Owl is well known for being crepuscular (and sometimes diurnal). And, if you really like biological terms, there is the rather rare “cathemeral”. This refers to species with no preference and that are equally active during any time of the 24-hour clock such as in some amphibians and primitive primates.