Baby Owls Sleep Face Down, Adorable Photos of Sleeping Baby Owls
We all know that baby owls are adorable enough to warrant a minute or more of scrolling through their cuddly cuteness. But have you ever wonder, “how do baby owls sleep?”
You’ll want to block off some time to look into this curious phenomenon.
What seemed like a one-off photo opportunity of an owlet with its face in the sand turned into much more when millions of non-owl experts on the internet realized that this is how young owls actually sleep.
According to IFL Science, the buzz was first generated by Twitter user Mark Rees,
“I’ve just discovered that baby owls sleep face down like THIS because their heads are too heavy,” Rees wrote. “Also, I don’t think I’ve seen owl legs before….”
“Looks like a toddler in an owl costume having a tantrum,” replied “Computer Scientist and Director of Teaching and Learning” Dr. Chris Headleand
As it turns out, sleeping baby owls snooze face-down because their heads are too heavy for their developing muscles to hold up. Once they’ve grown stronger they will sleep upright like mom and dad.
After finding a pair of barred owlets under a large sugar maple tree near his east Connecticut home, Joseph Clark called BirdNote to share his story. The owlets were being harried by ravens. Clark shooed the ravens away and consulted with local bird experts on what to do next. They told him to watch the owlets as they slept during the day, making sure the ravens didn’t come back and try again.
He was surprised and delighted at what he saw.
Owls clamp their talons onto a branch when they sleep.
Owlets take short naps and they do not like being disturbed from their slumber, but while they are asleep, something fascinating happens.
“Keeping their talons tightly gripped on a branch, a Barred Owlet will sometimes lie down on its stomach, turn its head to the side, and fall asleep,” Birdnote reports. “A young owl doesn’t fall out of the tree while it snoozes, because its back toe, the hallux, holds onto the branch. The hallux will not open or let go until the bird straightens its leg.”
“Whooo’s interrupted my nap?”
You learn something new every day!
