A common belief that we often come across regarding the owls is that they can see only during the night and not during the day. This thought is rooted in our minds as owls are generally encountered at night and during the day, they remain sedentary and hidden .
But this belief is a misconception. Like humans, owls also have both rods and cones present in the retina of their eyeballs and thus have visibility during the daytime as well. The rods helps to see clearly in the dark(night vision), while the cones are more active in bright light and help in colour vision. Depending on the species, the number of rods and cones varies. But every owl species have both the pigments and can see during the day as well as the night. It’s true that generally number of the rods is more than number of the cones in the retina, so they have better night vision and poor coloured vision than other birds.
Their pupil can adjust the amount of light entering the eyes. Thus, their eyes getting damaged by the sunlight is also a myth. In fact some owls, like the snowy owl, are more active during the day.(diurnal)
Their being nocturnal is usually a choice to avoid predators and competition for prey from other birds.
Did you ever think that owls can’t see during the day?
MBH/AS