While most of us are fast asleep , a whole hidden world wakes up. Nocturnal animals are creatures that are active at night and sleep during the day. The opposite — animals active in the daytime , like us — are called diurnal . The night may seem like an odd time to be busy , but it offers some real advantages .
There are three big reasons to live by night . First , in hot places the night is cooler , so desert animals avoid the burning daytime sun. Second , hiding in darkness helps small animals stay safe from daytime predators that hunt by sight . Third , by feeding at night an animal faces less competition for food , because so many other creatures are asleep .
📷 Anass ERRIHANI · CC BY-SA 4.0✨ An owl can turn its head up to 270 degrees to scan for prey without moving its body . Its eyes are so large that it cannot move them in their sockets — so it moves its whole head instead .
🔗 Match each reason for being nocturnal to how it helps.
Less competition for food Stays safe from daytime predators Avoids the burning daytime heat
Less competition for food Stays safe from daytime predators Avoids the burning daytime heat
Less competition for food Stays safe from daytime predators Avoids the burning daytime heat
Living in the dark calls for super-powered senses . Many nocturnal animals have very large eyes to soak up every scrap of available light . Cats and many other night hunters have a mirror-like layer behind their eyes called the tapetum lucidum , which bounces light back through the eye to be used twice — and is the reason their eyes glow brightly in torchlight . Others rely less on sight and more on hearing , smell , or touch .
📷 Snapdragon66 · CC BY-SA 4.0🔗 Match each nocturnal animal to its special night-time ability.
Produces its own light to attract a mate Uses smell and touch to find worms and slugs Has silent flight and exceptional hearing Uses echolocation to navigate and hunt in the dark
Produces its own light to attract a mate Uses smell and touch to find worms and slugs Has silent flight and exceptional hearing Uses echolocation to navigate and hunt in the dark
Produces its own light to attract a mate Uses smell and touch to find worms and slugs Has silent flight and exceptional hearing Uses echolocation to navigate and hunt in the dark
Produces its own light to attract a mate Uses smell and touch to find worms and slugs Has silent flight and exceptional hearing Uses echolocation to navigate and hunt in the dark
💡 Echolocation : bats emit very high-pitched sounds and listen to the echoes that bounce back off objects . This tells them exactly where insects or obstacles are — even in total darkness .
Not every animal fits neatly into night or day. Some are crepuscular , meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk — the dim, in-between times . Rabbits , deer , and many moths prefer these twilight hours , when there is just enough light to see but enough shadow to hide from predators .
📷 Evelyn Simak · CC BY-SA 2.0✨ The aye-aye , a lemur from Madagascar , uses its incredibly long , thin middle finger to tap on wood and listen for hollow chambers where grubs are hiding — then skewers them out to eat.
🗂️ Sort each animal by when it is most active.
Nocturnal (night) Diurnal (day)
Nocturnal (night) Diurnal (day)
Nocturnal (night) Diurnal (day)
Nocturnal (night) Diurnal (day)
Nocturnal (night) Diurnal (day)
Nocturnal (night) Diurnal (day)
✍️ Fill in the words about life after dark.
Animals active at night are _____ , while animals active in the day are _____ . Bats find their way in the dark using _____ .
nocturnal diurnal echolocation crepuscular
