There are many excellent birds out there that are proven to have great night vision.
These birds are commonly nocturnal or those who are mainly active at night.
With this in mind, are crows also nocturnal birds?
Do these birds also have excellent night vision?
Can crows see in the dark?
Crows are commonly seen thriving during the day.
They are most likely flying, hunting, and making loud cawing noises when there is light.
In fact, crows are not nocturnal, but considered to be diurnal birds.
Meaning to say, these birds are most active throughout the day.
One primary reason is because crows, unlike other birds, do not have excellent night vision.
These birds can not really see well in the dark.
At night, these black birds are resting and roosting after a long day.
Let’s get into more detail in this article
Do Crows Have Night Vision?
Birds, in general, already have superior vision than other animals and even humans.
They can see colors extremely clearly and can even see colors that we, humans, cannot perceive such as the UV.
Hence, birds are referred to as tetrachromats where they can see four colors – blue, red, green, and the UV.
But these birds cannot only see well during the day, they can also see pretty clearly at night.
Particularly, other species have superb night visions like owls, nighthawks, nightingales, and night herons.
These birds have one common ground: they are all nocturnal.
So, do crows also have night vision?
The answer is no.
These black birds are considered diurnal or birds who are most active during the day.
This is because crows do not have excellent night vision and cannot really see in the dark.
Like any other diurnal birds, crows are pretty vulnerable at night.
They will go roost and take shelter when the moon is up.
Crows’ vision and eyes are not suitable to see, fly, and hunt in darkness.
So this brings me to my next point
What do crows do at night?
Let’s find out in more detail
What Crows Do At Night?
Since crows do not thrive well at night, they are immensely restricted in their actions.
Crows cannot see in the dark. Naturally, these birds would not be able to hunt and fly properly.
Because of not having good night vision, they can be in danger to nocturnal predators if they do not take shelter.
So, crows mainly sleep and roost at night.
They will find areas with high trees that they can use as shelter.
Crows usually gather together when sleeping as they are also known to hold high importance in sociability and solidarity as a flock.
They prefer roosting on high, secured, and strategic places where they can be safe from predators, such as owls.
Check out my article where I go into more detail – Where do crows sleep?
Do Crows Crow In the Night?
Crows will only be sleeping at night as they will take their time resting after a long day.
However, these crows do not 100% emerge themselves in sleep.
In fact, these birds are usually roosting while being half-awake to stay alert from predators.
So, is it possible that crows make their loud cawing noises in the night?
Truthfully, yes.
Crows may still crow at night, but only for few possible reasons
1. To alert the flock
Crows will make their loud noises at night when there is a predator nearby.
As mentioned, these birds sleep in flock for this purpose.
They sleep together, so they can immediately be alerted when there is danger.
Crows work together which is why they are known as the gang of the avian world!
2. To warn about the coming storm
These black birds are quite intelligent and also have awesome senses.
Crows can also detect dangers like storms.
They may caw to give a few warnings to the flock about the calamity, so they would be able to take shelter somewhere safe.
3. Baby crows may make noises for no reason
Like any other babies, young crows may create loud cries for no reason at night.
No matter how intelligent crows can be, it is to be expected that baby crows may still behave oddly from time to time.
4. Disturbed sleeping patterns
Roosting on high areas with many sources of light might disturb crows’ sleeping patterns.
This is mostly evident on crows that roost on high roofs in the cities.
Due to the large number of bright areas, crows may get disturbed and start cawing.
I go into more detail in my article – Why do crows make noise at night?
Do Crows Come Out After Dark?
Crows are diurnal beings where they are most active during the day.
These birds will only spend their night roosting and sleeping to regain their energy for the next day.
Naturally, crows will come out after dark.
These birds usually wake up as early as dawn to start their day.
At this time, they will now begin searching for food and a source of water.
Crows are mostly active in the morning, then late in the afternoon before settling down again a little after sunset.
Wrapping Up
Crows do not have the ability to see well in the dark as their eyes are not equipped with excellent night vision.
These birds will usually sleep and roost only for the entire night, reserving and regaining their energy for the next day.
They will also be quite silent, but may still create noises for some reasons, mainly to alert the whole flock if there is danger.
