Are All Owls Nocturnal? Owls That Hunt by Day

Nocturnal, crepuscular and diurnal: what they mean

Biologists use three main words for when animals are active:

• Nocturnal: active mainly at night, resting by day. The tawny owl is a classic example.
• Crepuscular: active mainly in twilight, around dusk and dawn. Many owls, including the short-eared owl and great gray owl, fall into this group.
• Diurnal: active mainly by day, like most birds. A few owls, such as the northern hawk owl, are largely diurnal.

In practice many owls are flexible. Their activity can shift with the season, the weather, the length of the night and how hungry they or their chicks are. Some owls are best described as active by day and night, hunting whenever prey is available. For a broader look at night-active animals, see our list of nocturnal animals.

Why most owls hunt at night

Owls are well equipped for low light. They have huge, forward-facing eyes packed with light-sensitive rod cells, sensitive hearing that can locate prey by sound, and soft-edged feathers for quiet flight. These features give them an advantage after dark, when small rodents such as mice and voles are active and when daytime birds of prey such as hawks and eagles are not hunting.

Hunting at night also means less competition with daytime raptors for the same food, and less risk of being attacked by them. Many day-active birds of prey will attack owls, and small birds often mob owls they find in daylight.

The tawny owl of Europe is strictly nocturnal. It roosts by day pressed against a trunk or in ivy and hunts woodland mice and voles after dark. The barn owl is also mainly nocturnal, although it is more flexible, as described below. To learn how owls manage in the dark, see can owls see in the dark?.

Owls that hunt by day

A number of owls are often active in daylight:

The northern hawk owl is perhaps the most hawk-like owl. It perches on the top of a conifer in broad daylight, scanning for voles, and flies fast and low like a small falcon. It hunts largely by sight.

The snowy owl breeds in the high Arctic, where the summer sun does not set for weeks. With no night at all, it hunts lemmings and other prey in daylight. In winter, when snowy owls move south to fields, coasts and airports, they are often seen hunting by day, which makes them one of the easiest owls to watch. See the snowy owl profile for more.

The short-eared owl hunts over open grassland and marsh, quartering low on long wings like a harrier. It is often out in the afternoon and at dusk, especially in winter, and is a favorite of birdwatchers for that reason.

The burrowing owl of the Americas lives in open grassland and deserts and nests in underground burrows. It is often seen standing at the burrow entrance in daylight and hunts insects and small animals both day and night.

When nocturnal owls come out by day

Even mainly nocturnal owls sometimes hunt in daylight. The barn owl is a good example. In Britain and much of Europe it is regularly seen hunting over meadows in the late afternoon and early evening, especially in winter, when nights are cold and prey is hard to find, and in summer when it has hungry chicks to feed.

Bad weather can also change an owl’s routine. Owls hunt largely by sound, and heavy rain and strong wind make it hard to hear prey. After several wet nights, hungry owls may try their luck in daylight.

Disturbance is another reason. An owl flushed from its roost by people, dogs or mobbing birds may be seen flying in daylight, even though it would normally stay hidden until dusk.

Do owls see well in daylight?

Yes. A common myth says that owls are blind in daylight, but this is not true. Owls can see well by day, and the pupils of species such as the snowy owl and northern hawk owl shrink to protect the eye in bright light. Day-active owls tend to have yellow or orange eyes, while strictly nocturnal owls such as the tawny owl often have very dark eyes, though eye color is not a perfect guide.

Myths about owls and daylight

Myth: an owl seen by day must be sick. Often it is perfectly healthy. Many owls are naturally active in daylight, and others roost in plain view.

Myth: owls cannot see in daylight. Owls see well in daylight, although their vision is specialized for low light.

Fact: some owls never see true night. Snowy owls breeding in the high Arctic live through weeks of continuous summer daylight and hunt around the clock.