Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2026 September 3 [2]A sunset view of the solar eclipse, framed behind a stork standing on one leg in her nest. The Eclipse and the Stork Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Włodzimierz Bubak Text: [4]Cecilia Chirenti ([5]NASA [6]GSFC, [7]UMCP, [8]CRESST II) Explanation: How do animals react to a [9]total solar eclipse? The [10]featured image shows a stork roosting on her nest in Poland at a partial phase of the [11]recent total solar eclipse. If you are lucky enough to experience a total eclipse somewhere quiet and close to nature, you may be able to notice unusual daytime [12]animal behaviors. During totality, you may hear [13]nighttime sounds like crickets and frogs and see [14]fireflies. In the dark, most birds are [15]quiet. Thinking that it is time to go to bed, ducks and other waterfowl prepare to sleep on one leg, with their heads turned around and their beaks tucked into their back feathers (they don't really sleep with their heads [16]tucked under one wing). When [17]sunlight returns at the end of totality, songbirds greet the new "morning" with their dawn [18]songs. The crickets and frogs go [19]quiet again. Animals and people resume their lifes, only briefly disturbed by the [20]chance alignment of our [21]Sun and [22]Moon. APOD's main NASA site is [23]moving : From [24]apod.nasa.gov to [25]science.nasa.gov/apod Tomorrow's picture: aloha __________________________________________________________________ [26]< | [27]Archive | [28]Submissions | [29]Index | [30]Search | [31]Calendar | [32]RSS | [33]Education | [34]About APOD | [35]Discuss | [36]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell ([40]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [41]Specific rights apply. [42]NASA Web Privacy, [43]Accessibility, [44]Notices; A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC, [48]NASA Science Activation & [49]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2609/eclipse_stork.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/trzeci_plan/?hl=en 4. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/cecilia.chirenti 5. https://www.nasa.gov/ 6. https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/ 7. https://www.astro.umd.edu/people/cecilia-chirenti 8. https://cresst2.umd.edu/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250612.html 10. https://www.instagram.com/p/Db9F-0nsklu/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260813.html 12. https://www.fws.gov/story/wildlife-behavior-and-solar-eclipse 13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJCoF58ailo 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250802.html 15. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/birds-went-silent-during-the-great-north-american-eclipse-heres-what/ 16. https://www.birds.cornell.edu/k12/do-birds-sleep/ 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240331.html 18. https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/the-story/ 19. https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1566938611484-080d628f3c28 20. https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/ 21. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/ 22. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/ 23. https://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=45023 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/ 25. https://science.nasa.gov/apod 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260902.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 32. https://apod.com/feed.rss 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 35. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260903 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260904.html 37. https://www.mtu.edu/physics/department/faculty/nemiroff/ 38. https://www.mtu.edu/physics/ 39. https://inspirehep.net/authors/1073087 40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 43. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 45. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/astrophysics/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 48. https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/ 49. http://www.mtu.edu/