Researchers astounded after discovering unexpected nighttime activity in birds: 'We were shocked by our findings'

Birds are being kept up later because of bright lights, and it's proving to be a big problem.

What's happening?

Scientists looked at over 180 million bird calls and compared them with satellite photos of nighttime lights. They found that in extremely bright areas, birds stay up almost an extra hour every single day.

Brent Pease, a professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, put it plainly: "We were shocked by our findings."

The Guardian reported on a citizen science project called BirdWeather that tracked which birds are affected. Northern mockingbirds, American robins, and European goldfinches are all staying up way later than they should. But sparrows and other birds with smaller eyes fared much better. 

Why is sleep deprivation for birds concerning?

An extra hour awake might not sound that bad, but it's a big deal for birds. It forces changes in their eating habits, migration patterns, and even mating behaviors.

Pease pointed out that birds with bigger eyes (relative to their body size) are getting hit the worst. 

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Light pollution is already covering almost a quarter of the planet. It's not just ruining stargazing. Fireflies can't find each other to mate. Coral reefs are dying from too much light exposure. 

This stuff snowballs through the whole ecosystem and eventually hits pollinators, like birds, that help grow our food.

What can we do to help birds sleep?

A group in Durango, Colorado, is telling people to just use common sense — turn off lights you don't need, close your blinds at night, and if you've got outdoor lights, point them down instead of letting them shine everywhere.

You can also try letting your eyes adjust to the dark before flipping on all the lights. Get some dimmers, maybe motion sensors, or use night mode on your phone. 

It might not solve everything overnight, but if enough people make these small changes, we might actually give birds (and honestly, ourselves) the darker nights we're supposed to have.

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