Even when there's plenty of food around, these night birds still slow down their bodies at night—probably because it's dark and hard to find food, not just because food is scarce.

6

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

6

Community contributions welcome

6

Torpor in Dark Times: Patterns of Heterothermy Are Associated with the Lunar Cycle in a Nocturnal Bird

Cross-Sectional Study

Animal

2011 Jun

The study shows that these birds go into energy-saving mode during dark nights, even when there’s plenty of food, because they can’t see well enough to hunt. This supports the idea that darkness itself, not just lack of food, causes them to cool down.

Contradicting (0)

0

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No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Torpor in Dark Times: Patterns of Heterothermy Are Associated with the Lunar Cycle in a Nocturnal Bird

Score: 6

DOI: 10.1177/0748730411402632

Similar Assertions

Freckled Nightjars are night birds that sometimes chill out and go into energy-saving mode during dark nights—even when there's plenty of food. It seems they do this not because they're hungry, but because it's too dark to hunt well.

6

0

78%

Freckled Nightjars are more likely to go into energy-saving mode based on how bright the moon is than on how cold it is, which means they might be using the moonlight to hunt instead of just reacting to the temperature.

6

0

76%