Nocturnal Animals

Nocturnal animals remain active at night and rest during the day. Animals that do so tend to have particular adaptations compared to diurnal (active during the day) and crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) animals. These adaptations include enhanced hearing and smell, and vision that lets them see in the dark.

Nocturnal Animals

List of Nocturnal Animals

Mammals

  • Aardvark
  • African Bush Elephant
  • African Civet
  • African Clawless Otter
  • African Hunting Dog
  • African Palm Civet
  • American Badger
  • American Mink
  • American Red Fox
  • Ankarana Sportive Lemur
  • Antillean Ghost-faced Bat
  • Antilopine Kangaroo
  • Aye-aye
  • Bat-eared Fox
  • Bengal Slow Loris
  • Binturong
  • Black Rat
  • Black Rhinoceros
  • Black-footed Cat
  • Brown Antechinus
  • Brown Greater Galago
  • Brown Hyena
  • Brown Rat
  • Brumby
  • Brush-tailed Rabbit Rat
  • Bunny Rat
  • Bush Rat
  • Cacomistle
  • Cheetah
  • Coastal Tapeti
  • Commerson’s Leaf-nosed Bat
  • Common Bent-wing Bat
  • Common Brushtail Possum
  • Common Degu
  • Common Tapeti
  • Common Vampire Bat
  • Common Wombat
  • Cougar
  • Coyote
  • Cyprus Spiny Mouse
  • Dingo
  • Eastern Barred Bandicoot
  • Eastern Grey Kangaroo
  • Eastern Quoll
  • Eastern Woolly Lemur
  • Egyptian Fruit Bat
  • Eurasian Beaver
  • European Hedgehog
  • Ferret
  • Garnett’s Galago
  • Ghost Bat
  • Giant Bandicoot
  • Gilbert’s Potoroo
  • Golden Bandicoot
  • Goodfellow’s Tree-kangaroo
  • Gray Slender Loris
  • Gray Wolf
  • Greater Bilby
  • Greater Bulldog Bat
  • Greater Capybara
  • Greater Mouse-eared Bat
  • Greater Mouse-tailed Bat
  • Greater Short-nosed Fruit Bat
  • Ground Pangolin
  • Heart-nosed Bat
  • Hippopotamus
  • Hoary Bat
  • Hoffmann’s Two-toed Sloth
  • Honey Badger
  • House Mouse
  • Indian Flying Fox
  • Indian Pangolin
  • Indian Roundleaf Bat
  • Iranian Jerboa
  • Jaguar
  • Kayan River Slow Loris
  • Kinkajou
  • Kit Fox
  • Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat
  • Koala
  • Leadbeater’s Possum
  • Leopard
  • Lesser Bilby
  • Lesser Horseshoe Bat
  • Lion
  • Long-nosed Bandicoot
  • Margay
  • Matschie’s Tree-kangaroo
  • Mohol Bushbaby
  • Nancy Ma’s Night Monkey
  • New Zealand Lesser Short-tailed Bat
  • Nine-banded Armadillo
  • North American Beaver
  • North American Porcupine
  • Northern Brown Bandicoot
  • Northern Flying Squirrel
  • Northern Marsupial Mole
  • Numbat
  • Nutria
  • Ocelot
  • Oncilla
  • Orca
  • Pacific Degu
  • Pacific Sheath-tailed Bat
  • Panamanian Night Monkey
  • Perdido Key Beach Mouse
  • Platypus
  • Polar Bear
  • Quenda
  • Quokka
  • Raccoon
  • Raffray’s Bandicoot
  • Red Kangaroo
  • Red Slender Loris
  • Ringtail
  • Royal Antelope
  • Rufous Horseshoe Bat
  • Rüppell’s Horseshoe Bat
  • Senegal Bushbaby
  • Sir David’s Long-beaked Echidna
  • Snow Leopard
  • Snowshoe Hare
  • South Hairy-nosed Wombat
  • Southern Brown Bandicoot
  • Southern Flying Squirrel
  • Southern Marsupial Mole
  • Spectacled Bear
  • Spinner Dolphin
  • Spotted Quoll
  • Stick Nest Rat
  • Straw-colored Fruit Bat
  • Striped Hyena
  • Striped Skunk
  • Sugar Glider
  • Swamp Wallaby
  • Tasmanian Devil
  • Three-striped Night Monkey
  • Tiger
  • Tiger Quoll
  • Virginia Opossum
  • Weddell Seal
  • Western Barred Bandicoot
  • Western Grey Kangaroo
  • White-tailed Deer
  • Wild Water Buffalo
  • Woylie

Birds

  • American Woodcock
  • Barn Owl
  • Barred Owl
  • Black-crowned Night Heron
  • Boreal Owl
  • Burrowing Owl
  • Common Nightingale
  • Dwarf Cassowary
  • Eastern Screech-owl
  • Eastern Whip-poor-will
  • Elf Owl
  • Eurasian Woodcock
  • Flammulated Owl
  • Great Gray Owl
  • Great Horned Owl
  • Great Spotted Kiwi
  • Great-eared Nightjar
  • Kākāpō
  • Lesser Nighthawk
  • Little Spotted Kiwi
  • Long-eared Owl
  • Madagascar Nightjar
  • Night Parrot
  • North Island Brown Kiwi
  • Northern Cassowary
  • Northern Saw-whet Owl
  • Okarito Kiwi
  • Pauraque
  • Short-eared Owl
  • Southern Brown Kiwi
  • Southern Cassowary
  • Spotted Owl
  • Standard-winged Nightjar
  • Tawny Frogmouth
  • Western Screech-owl
  • Whiskered Screech-owl
  • White-faced Storm Petrel

Reptiles

Amphibians

Invertebrates

  • African Field Cricket
  • American Cockroach
  • Arizona Bark Scorpion
  • Australian Cockroach
  • Common Glow-worm
  • Common Hermit Crab
  • Cranberry White Grub
  • Cuban May Beetle
  • European Field Cricket
  • German Cockroach
  • Horned Ghost Crab
  • House Cricket
  • Leopard Slug
  • Lesser June Beetle
  • Luna Moth
  • Northern June Beetle
  • Oriental Cockroach
  • Painted Ghost Crab
  • Redback Spider
  • Rugose June Beetle
  • Zavala Phyllophaga

Fish

FAQs

1. Why do animals display nocturnal behavior?

Some do it to escape the heat of the day, while some, like flying squirrels, do so to avoid predation.

2. Are most animals nocturnal?

Around 70% of the world’s animals are nocturnal.

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