
"Owls seem like a night-adapted bird that has then made forays into the daytime at various points in evolutionary history," he said. In the winter, they can find and catch animals that are. There are approximately 250 variety of owls scattered. Owls exist on virtually every continent on earth except Antarctica (as well as various other remote oceanic islands). However, it's unclear whether the common ancestor they shared was diurnal, like the hawk, or nocturnal, like most owls, he said. They hunt when the sun is up, usually searching for prey from high perches that overlook open spaces. This unit provides interactive activities to teach all about owls and nocturnal animals Tie in a fascinating subject like owls and nocturnal animals to. Here are 10 facts about owls that makes them one of the most fascinating avians on the planet. That's because owls and hawks are closely related, Devokaitis said. The northern hawk owl, which hunts during the day, as well as at dawn and dusk, eats small birds and voles and other diurnal animals.Īs the northern hawk owl's name implies, it looks quite hawkish.

For instance, the northern pygmy owl has a proclivity for songbirds, which are also awake during the day, the experts said. The reason behind these varying sleep schedules largely has to do with prey availability, the experts said. Most are nocturnal, or active at dawn and dusk (the fancy word for that is 'Crepuscular animal - Wikipedia').


"Owls don't quite as clearly fall into nocturnal and diurnal as some other animals, because a lot of them are active during the daytime and nighttime," said Julie Ponder, a veterinarian and the executive director of The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. Owls are specialised birds of prey with round heads and rather flat faces.
