Spotted Wood Owl sunbathing

Richard Lim’s images of a spotted Wood Owl (Strix seloputo) sunning (left) raise two questions: do owls sun themselves and in the middle of the day at that.

According to Mark et al. (1999), although owls are considered nocturnal, not all species are active only during the night. There are species that hunt during the day and even nocturnal species will catch a prey if it happens to pass below its perch. However, Strix spp., of which the Spotted Wood Owl is one, are by and large nocturnal.

Mark et al. (1999) further state that owls indulge in the range of comfort activities observed in other groups of birds. Preening, scratching, dusting, stretching and even bathing can take place during the night, although it has been reported that bathing also occurs during the day. As for sunning, this can only take place in the day.

Richard’s observation of the Spotted Wood Owl sunning at noon is a valuable record.

Reference:
Marks, J. S., R. J. Cannings & H. Mikkola, 1999. Family Strigidae (Typical Owls). In: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal (eds.), Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol. 5. Barn-owls to hummingbirds. Lynx Editions, Barcelona. Pp. 76-242.

6 Responses

  1. Twitter Trackbacks for Bird Ecology Study Group » Spotted Wood Owl sunbathing [talfrynature.com] on Topsy.com

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  2. Nate

    I looked this up because I saw an owl doing this exact thing the other day right outside of my apartment window. It was about 1:30pm and it was laying in a sunny area right on the edge of the woods just like that spotted one except the one I saw had it’s head all the way back so it’s beak was pointing straight up into the air and you really couldn’t see it’s head. My girlfriend took a couple pics of it laying there. I’m pretty sure it was a Barred owl, it’s tail looked kind of like a ruffed grouse tail all spread out.

  3. Bird Ecology Study Group Save MacRitchie Forest: 18. Night birds

    […] The locally threatened Buffy Fish-owl (Ketupa ketupu) can be seen near the water edge of the reservoir (above). It also occurs outside of forests, in wooded parks and gardens. The other resident, the Spotted Wood-owl (Strix seloputo), is found under similar circumstances (below). Although owls are nocturnal by nature, they have been seen drinking and even bathing during the mornings and evenings, as seen HERE and HERE. A Spotted Wood-owl has even been seen sunning itself in the middle of the day HERE. […]

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