Owls, like all birds, produce an extra layer of down feathers during colder months to help them stay warm. Since owls stay in place during sometimes extremely bitter cold and weather, how do they survive? Primarily because of how their bodies have adapted to help them. Now we know that owls don’t hibernate, and only a few species move around during the winter in a way similar to migration. Some of the species of owls that practice irruptive behavior include the Snowy Owl, the Great-Horned Owl, and the Short-Eared Owl. However, when owls do this, they don’t follow any particular routes or even move at the same time every year (or every year at all), making it different from migration. When owls move, they are moving due to a lack of food in the area and are hunting for more accessible and abundant prey to catch. However, some species of owls do engage in movement during the winter that is like migration. They also don’t have the innate instinct to migrate that several bird species have. Image Credit: zoosnow, Pixabayįor the most part, because they have adapted to survive in colder weather, owls do not have a need to migrate either. Their bodies are uniquely adapted to survive harsh temperatures, making it easier for them to deal with the cold and even hunt down prey when there’s snow. Owls, however, have no need to hibernate. Doing this enables animals to survive the harsher parts of the year. Hibernation is the act of conserving energy when there isn’t enough food around and involves specific physiological changes such as a slowed metabolism. A lot of people think hibernating animals are sleeping away the winter months, but that’s not what’s happening. Many animals hibernate when the weather turns towards the cold, and it gets harder to find food. But, if they aren’t hibernating or migrating, how are they surviving the cold? It turns out that they mostly do neither, but there are some exceptions.

The answer to the question of whether owls hibernate or migrate is a bit complicated. Do they hunker down and hibernate till it gets warm, or do they migrate like many other types of birds do during the colder months of the year? One common question people have about owls is what happens to them during the winter. Owls are stunning, elusive birds that are fascinating for several reasons-such as doing that really cool (and really creepy) 270-degree head turn.

Do tawny owls hibernate