A new study finds that light pollution makes birds’ days last longer.
Rasit Aydogan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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Rasit Aydogan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The early bird gets the worm, as the old saying goes. And now a lot of birds around the globe are starting their days earlier than ever, because of unnaturally bright skies caused by light pollution.
“For these birds, effectively their day is almost an hour longer. They start vocalizing about 20 minutes earlier in the morning and they stop vocalizing about 30 minutes later in the evening,” says Neil Gilbert, a wildlife ecologist with Oklahoma State University.
That’s the conclusion of a sweeping study that analyzed bird calls from over 500 bird species in multiple continents, giving researchers an unprecedented look at how human-created lights are affecting the daily lives of birds worldwide.
Scientists already knew that light pollution affects birds. It can send migrating birds off course, and some observations have linked artificial lighting to unusual bird activity, including one recent report of American Robins feeding their babies in their nest at night.
But Gilbert and Brent Pease, with Southern Illinois University, took a more comprehensive view, by analyzing millions of recordings of birdsong.
The audio was collected by thousands of devices installed in backyards and other locations, mostly by birdwatchers and other wildlife enthusiasts, as part of a program called BirdWeather. The BirdWeather devices automatically register bird calls and use…