Researchers discover concerning change in birds' behavior: 'Likely to be constantly compromised'

Researchers have found that loud sounds and bright lights from large cities are affecting birds' sleeping patterns.

What's happening?

A study published in the Royal Society analyzed the behavior of 13 adult common mynas in New Zealand. It concluded that sleep disturbances are causing these birds to sleep more and sing less.

Juli Gaviraghi Mussoi and Kristal Cain, two of the researchers, published an article with The Conversation about their findings. They included audio samples of the birds to let you hear the difference in tone, if possible.

In the first audio of the second set of recordings, a common myna sings one of its usual, complex songs. But the second audio is shorter and very repetitive.

The research team found similar results in an April 2022 study about Australian magpies. If these disturbances continue, we could lose these beautiful bird songs and more over time.

Why are birds important?

While mynas are invasive, Mussoi and Cain argued in their article that this is worse news for native bird species. Mynas have adapted to urbanization more than other birds, who may struggle even more with noise and light pollution.

Birds are a crucial part of our ecosystems, which keep our food supply chains running. If birds aren't able to reproduce and survive, that could have a domino effect on our survival.

As Mussoi and Cain said in their piece, birds won't stop feeling these effects until urban areas change their habits. Right now, many large cities produce constant noise and light pollution every night.

"This means the quality of birds' songs and calls is likely to be constantly compromised," Mussoi and Cain wrote in The Conversation.

What's being done about noise and light pollution?

The researchers made a few recommendations about what large cities can do to reduce their noise and light pollution.

Do you worry about the quality of the air inside your home? Yes — often 😬 Yes — but only sometimes 😕 Only when it's bad outside 😮‍💨 No — I never do 😌 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Getting rid of unnecessary lighting in public settings is a great place to start. Using dimmers or downward-facing, warm lights is also helpful.

As for noise pollution, they suggested restricting the use of fireworks in the evening as well as heavy or very modified vehicles.

BirdCast, a collaborative bird research project, encourages everyday people to do similar actions to those and others when birds migrate.

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