Why do birds never fall off their perches when sleeping? Do they, in fact, sleep?

           

 

 

 

 

 

 Birds have nifty tendon arrangement in their legs. The flexor tendon from the muscle in the thigh reaches down the leg, round the ankle and then under the toes. This arrangement means that, at rest, the bird’s body weight causes the bird to bend its knee and pull the tendon tight, so closing the claws. Apparently this mechanism is so effective that dead birds have been found grasping their perches long after they have died.

            Yes, birds do sleep. Not only that, some do it standing on one leg. And even more surprising, may be hypnotized into sleep at will. To try it, we will have to bring our eyes close to the cage, and use the hypnotist’s principles on our eyes. If we act as if we are gradually falling asleep the bird will follow us, finally holding one leg up under its belly, tucking its head under its wing and falling into a deep sleep.

            What’s more most pet bird owners know that all we need to do make the pet fall asleep is to cover the cage with a blanket to simulate night.

            Birds do sleep, usually in a series of short ‘power naps’. Swift are famous for sleeping on the wing. Since most birds rely on vision, bedtime is usually at night, apart from nocturnal species, of course. The sleeping habits of waders, however, are ruled by the tides rather than the Sun. some other species are easily fooled by artificial light. Brightly lit city areas can give songbirds insomnia.