Artificial Light Has Essentially Lengthened Birds' Day

Light pollution extends the active hours of birds worldwide by nearly an hour, fundamentally altering the natural rhythms of over 500 species across multiple continents. Analysis of 60 million bird call recordings reveals that artificial lighting causes birds to begin vocalizing 20 minutes earlier each morning and continue 30 minutes later each evening. The effect varies significantly by species anatomy and behavior.

Birds with proportionally larger eyes experience the strongest responses, with American Robins in highly illuminated areas beginning their songs up to two hours before sunrise. Species nesting in tree cavities or enclosed spaces show minimal changes, as opaque barriers shield them from artificial light. The research, drawing from BirdWeather devices deployed globally by birdwatchers, is the largest analysis of light pollution's biological impacts to date.

Humans' days too!

[Anonymous Coward]

*rimshot*

Damn Birds

[SlashbotAgent]

Damn birds! Waking me up at ungodly dark hours of the morning. They're little dinosaur assholes.

I still love them.

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[Smonster]

My damn grandpa cat, though still spry at 17 has done what the old do and wakes up at the crack of dawn every day the last couple years. In the winter it is fine, but damn if I don't want him to shut the hell up at 5:30 in the morning. He has food, he has water, has access to his letterbox, he can even get outside on the roof. But nooOOoooOo he wants me to give him attention. Little mother&$#@. He will however still kill all the birds that get too close. If only we could combine his early mornings with

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[shanen]

There are no birds.

At least that was the joke I was hoping for. Perhaps with something about problems synchronizing the clocks.

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[Locke2005]

I still love them.

Especially with teriyaki sauce!

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[dsgrntlxmply]

I am frequently awakened just before dawn by crow wars, some directly in my backyard. All I can do is laugh. There is a rooster on remnant rural property around 300 m away that I can hear through double paned windows. It doesn't wake me up, but if I happen to be awake, I laugh, remembering my grandma "up with the chickens". Until a few years ago, someone nearby kept geese, which for some reason would sound off around midnight. It was comforting illusion of living in not quite suburbia.

As someone wakened by birds

[ebunga]

I'm not really getting a kick out of any of this and I would like some sleep, but you absolute pansy bed-wetting cowards are afraid of the dark. Exterior lighting and streetlights make it easier for thieves and murderers to see you at night. If you care about your family, then get rid of all outside lighting.

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[Kernel Kurtz]

I'm not really getting a kick out of any of this and I would like some sleep, but you absolute pansy bed-wetting cowards are afraid of the dark. Exterior lighting and streetlights make it easier for thieves and murderers to see you at night. If you care about your family, then get rid of all outside lighting.

It's pretty cool looking at my street in IR. Cameras lighting up everywhere but you would never know it otherwise.

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[skam240]

People are indoors at night in their beds trying to sleep. Outdoor lighting won't make them easier to see in there. It just makes it easier for yourself or neighbors to see someone sneaking around the property.

So it's true?

[Kernel Kurtz]

The early bird really does get the worm?

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[newcastlejon]

True, but it's the second mouse that gets the cheese.

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[Vanyle]

But not the third or fourth

All right - we're halfway there!

[93 Escort Wagon]

Now all that's left to do is get them hooked on caffeine!

no it doesn't

[psycandy]

there's a difference between light pollution and noise pollution and these guys have the two mixed up. Light pollution doesn't bother birds at all but to be heard, they need to vocalize for longer and start earlier than the encroaching noise of the city.

Good

[backslashdot]

We've been needing this revenge ever since they went crazy and attacked people at a seaside town in California back in the 1960s.

Longer history

[dsgrntlxmply]

Austin, Texas installed "moonlight towers" beginning in 1894. I wonder if anyone ever looked into bird behavior around these. Moonlight towers [wikipedia.org]