There is a variety of nocturnal birds that are distributed throughout almost the entire world with the exception of Antarctica and in some cases the deserts, these night birds they are grouped in this classification because they have characteristics in common such as their hunting at night or at twilight, some characteristics will be explained.
night birds
When talking about nocturnal birds, direct reference is made to two families or groups that are made up of species classified as «nocturnal birds of prey». There are many species of flying animals that have nocturnal habits in their behavior, but this time the similarity in behavior is not the only characteristic that associates them and allows the species to be grouped in this classification of nocturnal birds.
In this case, the characteristics in common are, first of all, the feeding that makes them hunting birds that catch mammals and even other slightly smaller species of birds at night to eat them when they are still alive. This diet causes these types of birds expel the remains of their prey, such as their bones, their feathers or their hair (in the case of mammals) and all this in balls.
Another characteristic in common is the adaptation to night life, as well as the Sea mammals they have remarkable adaptations that allowed them to live in the aquatic environment and feed in it or on its surface, nocturnal birds had adaptations that allowed them to feed at night and have an energetic and uncomplicated activity during these hours.
The difference with aquatic mammals is that the adaptations are not as radical or noticeable, nocturnal birds differ from other diurnal birds in that their senses are much more developed, for example, their sense of hearing has an excellent range and when they are flying they do not they emit as much noise as a diurnal bird. The first facilitates the location of their prey and the second facilitates the approach to them without being detected. Not to mention the development of their sense of sight.
In this sense, nocturnal birds are most active at night or at twilight, together with other birds that are not necessarily raptors, for example, European nightjars, which among their characteristics are described as nocturnal birds, with legs and wings long and with short beaks, the nightjars are approximately six million in much of the European and African continent.
The two families mentioned are the Strigids (Strigidae) and the titonidae (Tytonidae), both belong to the order Strigiformes (strigiformes) which in turn is part of the class Bird, Yarn Chordata, of the kingdom Animals. One of the five kingdoms of living beings that group the millions of species into groups or taxonomic classifications for better knowledge and organization. This is achieved thanks to the characteristics of the species, their evolutionary history, their behavior, their cellular structure, among other things.
Together, the birds that belong to these two families make up a fairly diverse group of birds that are distributed throughout much of the world, adapting to different ecosystems of almost the entire planet. There are points such as the north and south poles where neither these nor other species can be seen that can be found on the rest of the continents.
Features
These birds belong to a single order and certain general traits have been grouped, such as:
- Their eyes are not located on the sides of the head of these birds but on the front, in addition to the fact that they are generally large and, of course, have a developed sense of sight. Despite this good vision, their visual range is not really great, which is why they have to turn their heads to be able to see in other directions besides straight ahead. In addition to that, they do not withstand the sun very well, so they are kept in the shade during the day.
- Un nocturnal bird of prey It usually has a hooked beak.
- Their ears are large and they are located on the sides of the head, unlike other birds that have them on their heads, this allows them to capture sounds from all directions with more precision.
- The fingers of these species are usually separated in pairs.
- As for the plumage, this is usually either very dense or very soft, with soft feathers that come out of the "hand", the forearm and the union between the wing and the body. The softness of the feathers allows them to emit the least amount of sound while they are flying.
- The characteristic colors are gray, black, reddish tones in certain areas, yellow, white and brown shades.
- The feeding of most of these nocturnal birds is based on mammals, small reptiles, insects or smaller birds, they gobble them up when they are still live prey. How they hunt them varies, but they are generally guided by sound to find them and fly to them silently. It is for this last reason that one of its main characteristics is stealth.
- Since they are active at night, they usually rest during the day on branches or inside trees because of the holes they have.
- The location is technically not a common feature but a fact about these species. A large number of nocturnal birds of prey are found on the island of Greenland, the rest are distributed on all continents except Antarctica.
strigid
- The 200 species that belong to the family strigidae they are mostly raptors, that is, they hunt their prey using their beak and sharp claws after flying towards them very quickly.
- The adaptation to the night of these species is not as developed as that of some titónidos (such as owls), in fact, some of its species also hunt during the day.
- They feed on both invertebrate and vertebrate species, only they are generally small.
Titonids
- 16 species make up the family Tythoniade, generally these are not very large and have a medium size, although few species do reach a large size.
- These birds are distributed throughout the world except for North America (but only in the north of this part), in certain parts of Asia and in the Sahara desert.
- Twenty species are now extinct and five of the 16 still living are on the list of Endangered animals in the world.
nocturnal bird species
Night birds can be further divided, in this case there will be five groups that encompass almost all species.
Owls
First of all, there are the owls, which can be real or horned, common, spotted, etc. These species usually weigh a little over a kilo (males) or two kilos (females), they are not particularly large, although males are smaller than females. Owls have plumes on their heads, except for the snowy owl, which gradually lost it.
Owls can be found almost everywhere in the world, except Antarctica. Long-eared owls cannot be found in Oceania either. The latter usually measure a little less than eagle owls, but compared to other types of nocturnal birds they are relatively large. Long-eared owls differ from the rest by the disk shape of their face.
Some species are:
| Black Owl (Asio stygius) | Malayan eagle owl (Bubo sumatranus) |
| Cape Eagle Owl (Bubo capensis) | Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) |
| Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo) | Malagasy Owl (Asio madagascariensis) |
| Spotted Eagle Owl (Bubo africanus) | Ashy Eagle Owl (Bubo cinerascens) |
| Abyssinian Owl (Asio abyssinicus) | Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) |
| Great Barn Owl or Barn Owl (Asio capensis) | Short-eared Owl or Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) |
owls
Two genera of owls currently exist, they are birds that have a heart-shaped face, some have plumes on their heads and others do not, those that do are part of the genus phodilus and the rest are also within that genus and the second called Tyto.
In terms of size, they can be medium or large, with a plumage that is mostly beige, white, gray or brown. Their diet is based on vertebrate species smaller than themselves and they usually hunt them when there is complete darkness. Some species are:
| Ash-faced Owl (Tyto glaucops) | Long-legged Owl (Tyto longimembris) |
| Scary Owl (Tyto tenebricosa) | Congo Owl (Phodilus prigoginei) |
| Taliabu's Owl (Tyto nigrobrunnea) | Spotted Owl (Tyto multipunctata) |
| Horned Owl (Phodilus badius) |
tawny owls
These birds are relatively medium-sized, resembling eagle-owls in size. The shape of their head is round and that of their face is like a disc, they do not have plumes, their eyes are completely black, they nest especially in the hollows of trees, on rocks, in nests that other birds have abandoned, in boxes, under bushes or trees and even on cliffs. More than 20 species of tawny owls are distributed throughout the world (except Antarctica), some of them are:
| North American tawny owl (Strix varia) | Brown Tawny Owl or Striated Owl (Strix virgata) |
| Tawny owl (Strix aluco) | Guatemalan owl (Strix fulvescens) |
| Greater Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa) | African tawny owl (Strix woodfordii) |
| Uralian Owl (Strix uralensis) |
little owls
Little owls are also called owls and they are also owls, but with a notable physical difference. Firstly, their body has a round and flattened shape, secondly, they do not exceed 30 centimeters in length, thirdly, their plumage generally has brownish tones and a speckled pattern. Like the long-eared owls, they are not found in Antarctica or Oceania. Their diet is also a bit different, based on small mammals and insects. Regarding its species, the family Surniinae (to which they belong), can be divided into five main genres:
- Athena: That groups the Burrowing Owl, the Brahman Owl and the European Owl.
- Glaudicium: That groups the alpine owl, the cuckoo owl, the Andean caburé and the Pernambuco caburé.
- Micratene: It is a genus that only contains the species micrathene whitney which is the owl of the saguaros.
- xenoglaux: It is another genus that only contains the species xenoglaux what is the hairy owl.
- Aegolius: It is the final genus that contains four species: the great-headed owl, the gray owl, the boreal owl and the brown owl.
Owls
The owls or owls are birds that are characterized by the presence of plumes on their heads, they measure between 20 and 25 centimeters and weigh only 100 grams or a little more. These birds have a diet that is only based on invertebrates and only on rare occasions do they hunt mammals smaller than themselves. At least fifty species have been described, including:
| Scops owl (Otus scops) | African Scops Owl (Otus senegalensis) |
| Persian Scops Owl (Otus brucei) | Eastern Scops Owl (Otus sunia) |
| White-fronted Scops Owl (Otus sagittatus) | Chinese Scops Owl (Otus lettia) |
| Indian Scops Owl (Otus bakkamoena) |