Birds singing at night - is there a link to global warming?

I've noticed recently that birds are now singing throughout the night. Several posters on the Yahoo message boards report the same (there are a few at this thread: http://uk.messages.news.yahoo.com/Climat... ), but no one has provided an explanation yet.

I know that artificial lighting can cause birds to sing when they'd normally sleep. We have a street lamp at the back of our garden, but until the last few months (and unusally warm winter weather) this didn't seem to disturb the birds. I've also heard the same nocturnal singing in other areas around the English North West.

Can any ecologists/zoologists/learned enthusiasts out there shed some light on this for me?

Birds singing at night - is there a link to global warming?
Birds have been singing at night for at least 50

years that I know of, and probably for thousands of

years before that. Maybe because of increases in

light levels in cities they sing at night a little more

than they used to, but night-time singing is normal

for many birds. Some, of course, such as whip-poor-wills, do almost all their singing at night,but

even those that are normally daytime singers may

sing at night also, especially on nights with bright

moonlight. I once spent 24 hours (in 2 12-hour

shifts) recording everything I saw and heard in

a swamp forest. I was surprised by how much

night-time activity there was in what I thought were

day active animals. There was only a short time

when it was really quiet, and that was from about

10:30 to twelve, if I remember right.
Reply:Depends on the bird and the location. Here in texas, march/april the mockingbird male will sing all night long while he is trying to attract a mate. The singing will stop once they start nesting. Report Abuse
Reply:no its just the only time they know their mate will hear them
Reply:I put it down to Christmas and New Year, there's been loads of birds and bloke's singing their lungs out the last couple of weeks.
Reply:I work shifts and i have been surprised by the birds through out the night, 2 in the morning and some are singing??
Reply:Birdsong is all about light, and not temperature. I won't waste your time by repeating things that others have said above, but I'll add an interesting bit of evidence...



About 5 or 6 years ago we had a solar eclipse here in the UK. It was the first one I'd seen and it was amazing. But one of the things that I thought was most surprising was the fact that, as the eclipse hit, all the birds stopping singing. Then as it passed, they all started up again.



Therefore, birdsong is affected by light, not temperature.
Reply:this isnt new,i work nights occasionally and have for years heard birds singing,they usually start around 3am and go on all morning.
Reply:It's not about global warming. It's because of light pollution. The Simpsons made a great parody of it but it is quite real. During the xmas period there was a lot more lights outside, so the birds would have been more disturbed than usual.
Reply:i think bird sing because they feel warm as the hot air comes down
Reply:No.



You have over slept.



Get out of bed now and get to work!