This article is part of a special report on the total solar eclipse that will offer the best views from the Arctic Circle, Iceland, Spain and parts of Portugal on August 12, 2026. They may have been onto something: human behavior during eclipses, Hartstone-Rose says, may have more influence on animals’ behavior than scientists thought. In a recent study published in the journal Zoo Biology, a separate group of Canadian researchers observed zoo animals during 2024’s total solar eclipse, when the zoo was closed to visitors. In a 2025 study published in Science, researchers and community scientists analyzed nearly 100,000 bird calls during the 2024 total solar eclipse. He’s skipping a trip to where this August’s total solar eclipse will occur, in part because of potentially nonideal viewing conditions and a lack of funds.