Do birds ever sleep?

[silviana]

I thought all birds went to sleep during darkness? Not our lot! I get woken up regularly at 3am by the twittering of the birds in the trees surrounding our house and it's not even light. I expect the dawn chorus but this is ridiculous!

[Experimental]

They're just like people. Sometimes they have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom! Seriously, sometimes they awaken and chirp or chitter. We used to have one crazy rooster who crowed every night at 3 AM. Said rooster, sadly, is no longer living and is in the freezer to preserve him for a future Sunday dinner.

[21Cfox]

Yeah, sometimes they twitter when we are not expecting them to do so. I think different birds have different biological clock. You don't expect an owl to sleep at night, do you?

[silviana]

Fair comment, and we have quite a lot of wildlife around us including owls, bats, squirrels, foxes, pheasants, deer, hedgehogs, woodpeckers, collared doves, pigeons, roosters and rats, all of which could be contributing to the noise!

[smokey]

Oh my! What is this trash? Looks like spammers got the site.

Well I think birds must sleep at some time. I'm not sure when? I know baby birds sleep so I would think adult birds would sleep too!

[rosebud]

Yes they do sleep. I have a pet bird, a parrot and I have seen him sleep many times. He stood on one leg and tucks his head under his wings when sleeping.

[Isis]

I have heard birds chirping in the middle of the night but mostly it is in the daytime. They usually go to roost in the trees as it is getting dark but I am sure they wake up in the middle of the night sometimes.