Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seize the night: European Blackbirds (Turdus merula) extend their foraging activity under artificial illumination

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Ornithology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the urbanized world, the diurnal cycle of light and darkness has lost its accuracy due to artificial light at night (LAN). Because light is one of the most important zeitgebers for the synchronization of the endogenous clock, this loss of the night has serious implications for health and activity patterns. Although it is a well-known phenomenon that LAN advances the onset of dawn song of passerines, little is known ABOUT whether birds extend their activity into the evening hours and THUS may benefit from exploiting the night light niche. By observing wild urban Blackbirds (Turdus merula) under different LAN intensities, we found birds exposed to high levels of LAN to forage longer in the evening than their conspecifics in the darker areas. This difference was most pronounced during the short days in March, but decreased steeply towards the summer solstice. However, body condition of the Blackbirds did not correlate with the exposure to LAN, indicating that urban birds extending their activity under LAN might not benefit from the prolonged foraging times. Our findings further indicate that male Blackbirds are more sensitive to LAN than females. This study reveals that LAN plays a considerable role in the activity times of urban Blackbirds but, regarding their body condition, other urban factors may be more important than the influence of LAN.

Zusammenfassung

Nutze die Nacht: Amseln (Turdus merula) verlängern ihre Nahrungssuche unter künstlichem Nachlicht

Der tägliche Wechsel zwischen Hell und Dunkel hat in der urbanisierten Welt durch das künstliche Nachtlicht seine Präzision verloren. Da Licht einer der wichtigsten Zeitgeber der inneren Uhr ist, hat dieser Verlust der Nacht weitreichende Auswirkungen auf Gesundheit und Aktivitätsmuster. Der unter künstlichem Licht früher einsetzende Morgengesang von Singvögeln ist ein gut untersuchtes Phänomen, jedoch ist nur wenig darüber bekannt, ob Vögel ihre Aktivität auch in die Abendstunden ausweiten und so von der Nachlicht-Nische profitieren können. Wir beobachteten frei lebende Amseln unter verschiedenen Lichtintensitäten und fanden, dass sie bei hohen nächtlichen Lichtintensitäten ihre Nahrungssuche stärker in die Abendstunden ausweiteten als Artgenossen im dunkleren Gebieten. Dieser Unterschied war während der kurzen Tage im März besonders ausgeprägt, nahm aber zum Sommer hin stark ab. Einen Zusammenhang zwischen der Körperkondition der Vögel und der nächtlichen Lichtintensität konnten wir nicht finden, was darauf hinweist, dass Vögel mit lichtbedingt längeren Aktivitätszeiten nicht von der verlängerten Nahrungssuche profitieren. Darüber hinaus scheinen Amselhähne sensibler als Amselhennen auf künstliches Nachtlicht zu reagieren. Diese Studie deutet darauf hin, dass künstliches Nachtlicht einen bedeutenden Einfluss auf die Aktivitätszeiten von städtischen Amseln hat, aber hinsichtlich der Körperkondition andere urbane Faktoren eine wichtigere Rolle als künstliches Nachtlicht haben.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderies JM, Katti M, Shochat E (2007) Living in the city: resource availability, predation, and bird population dynamics in urban areas. J Theor Biol 247(1):36–49. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.01.030

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Arroyo-Solís A, Castillo JM, Figueroa E, López-Sánchez JL, Slabbekoorn H (2013) Experimental evidence for an impact of anthropogenic noise on dawn chorus timing in urban birds. J Avian Biol 44(3):288–296. doi:10.1111/j.1600-048X.2012.05796.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Aschoff J (1954) Zeitgeber der tierischen Tagesperiodik. Naturwissenschaften 41(3):49–56. doi:10.1007/BF00634164

    Google Scholar 

  • Batten LA (1978) Seasonal distribution of recoveries and causes of blackbird mortality. Bird Study 25(1):23–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergen F, Abs M (1997) Verhaltensökologische Studie zur Gesangsaktivität von Blaumeise (Parus caeruleus), Kohlmeise (Parus major) und Buchfink (Fringilla coelebs) in einer Großstadt. J Ornithol 138(4):451–467. doi:10.1007/bf01651380

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw WE, Holzapfel CM (2007) Evolution of animal photoperiodism. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 38:1–25. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.37.091305.110115

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodel interference: a practical information-theoretic approach, 2nd edn. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrkjedal I, Lislevand T, Vogler S (2012) Do passerine birds utilise artificial light to prolong their diurnal activity during winter at northern latitudes? Ornis Norveg 35:37–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Cinzano P, Falchi F, Elvidge CD (2001) The first World Atlas of the artificial night sky brightness. Mon Not R Astron Soc 328(3):689–707. doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04882.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuthill IC, Macdonald WA (1990) Experimental manipulation of the dawn and dusk chorus in the blackbird Turdus merula. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 26(3):209–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies TW, Bennie J, Inger R, Gaston KJ (2013) Artificial light alters natural regimes of night-time sky brightness. Sci Rep 3. doi:10.1038/srep01722

  • Dawson A, King VM, Bentley GE, Ball GF (2001) Photoperiodic control of seasonality in birds. J Biol Rhythms 16(4):365–380. doi:10.1177/074873001129002079

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dominoni D, Quetting M, Partecke J (2013a) Artificial light at night advances avian reproductive physiology. Proc R Soc Lond B 280 (1756):20123017. doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.3017

  • Dominoni DM, Helm B, Lehmann M, Dowse HB, Partecke J (2013b) Clocks for the city: circadian differences between forest and city songbirds. Proc R Soc Lond B 280 (1763):20130593. doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.0593

  • Dominoni DM, Carmona-Wagner EO, Hofmann M, Kranstauber B, Partecke J (2014) Individual-based measurements of light intensity provide new insights into the effects of artificial light at night on daily rhythms of urban-dwelling songbirds. J Anim Ecol 83(3):681–692. doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12150

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer RG, Bearhop S, Campbell HA, Bryant DM (2012) Shedding light on light: benefits of anthropogenic illumination to a nocturnally foraging shorebird. J Anim Ecol 82(2):478–485. doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12012

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frank KD (1988) Impact of outdoor lighting on moths: an assessment. J Lepidopterists Soc 42(2):63–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Freed LA (1981) Loss of mass in breeding wrens-stress or adaptation. Ecology 62(5):1179–1186. doi:10.2307/1937282

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller RA, Warren PH, Gaston KJ (2007) Daytime noise predicts nocturnal singing in urban robins. Biol Lett 3(4):368–370. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0134

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Garber SD (1978) Opportunistic feeding behavior of Anolis cristatellus (Iguanidae: Reptilia) in Puerto Rico. Trans Kans Acad Sci 81:79–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Glutz von Blotzheim U, Bauer KM (1988) Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas. Aula, Wiesbaden

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann K (1959) Über den Tagesrhythmus der Singvögel im arktischen Sommer. J Ornithol 100(1):84–89. doi:10.1007/bf01671316

    Google Scholar 

  • Hothorn T, Bretz F, Westfall P (2008) Simultaneous inference in general parametric models. Biom J 50(3):346–363

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hötker H (1999) What determines the time-activity budgets of Avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta)? J Ornithol 140(1):57–71. doi:10.1007/bf02462089

    Google Scholar 

  • Kempenaers B, Borgström P, Loes P, Schlicht E, Valcu M (2010) Artificial night lighting affects dawn song, extra-pair siring success, and lay date in songbirds. Curr Biol 20:1735–1739. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2010.08.028

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuechly HU, Kyba CCM, Ruhtz T, Lindemann C, Wolter C, Fischer J, Hölker F (2012) Aerial survey and spatial analysis of sources of light pollution in Berlin, Germany. Remote Sens Environ 126:39–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar V, Gwinner E, Van’t Hof TJ (2000) Circadian rhythms of melatonin in European starlings exposed to different lighting conditions: relationship with locomotor and feeding rhythms. J Comp Physiol A 186(2):205–215. doi:10.1007/s003590050020

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kyba CCM, Ruhtz T, Fischer J, Hölker F (2011) Cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems. PLoS ONE 6(3):e17307. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017307

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Longcore T, Rich C (2004) Ecological light pollution. Front Ecol Environ 2(4):191–198. doi:10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002[0191:ELP]2.0.CO;2

  • Luniak M, Mulsow R, Walasz K Urbanization of the European Blackbird - expansion and adaptations of urban population. In: Luniak M (ed) Urban ecological studies in Central and Eastern Europe; international symposium, Warsaw, Poland, 1990. Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, pp 187–198

  • Luniak M, Mulsow R (1988) Ecological parameters in urbanization of the European Blackbird. Acta Congr Int Ornithol 19:1787–1793

  • Mace R (1989) A comparison of great tits (Parus major) use of time in different daylengths at 3 European sites. J Anim Ecol 58(1):143–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Macleod R, Barnett P, Clark JA, Cresswell W (2005) Body mass change strategies in blackbirds Turdus merula: the starvation–predation risk trade-off. J Anim Ecol 74(2):292–302. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2005.00923.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Marzluff JM (2001) Worldwide urbanization and its effect on birds. In: Marzluff JM, Bowman R, Donnelly R (eds) Avian Ecology and Conservation in an Urbanizing World. Kluwer, Norwell, pp 19–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller MW (2006) Apparent effects of light pollution on singing behavior of American robins. Condor 108(1):130–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy MT, Sexton K, Dolan AC, Redmond LJ (2008) Dawn song of the eastern kingbird: an honest signal of male quality? Anim Behav 75(3):1075–1084. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.08.020

    Google Scholar 

  • Navara KJ, Nelson RJ (2007) The dark side of light at night: physiological, epidemiological, and ecological consequences. J Pineal Res 43(3):215–224. doi:10.1111/j.1600-079X.2007.00473.x

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nordt A, Klenke R (2013) Sleepless in town–drivers of the temporal shift in dawn song in urban European blackbirds. PLoS ONE 8(8):e71476. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071476

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ockendon N, Davis S, Toms M, Mukherjee S (2009) Eye size and the time of arrival of birds at garden feeding stations in winter. J Ornithol 150(4):903–908. doi:10.1007/s10336-009-0412-4

    Google Scholar 

  • Partecke J, Gwinner E (2007) Increased sedentariness in European blackbirds following urbanization: a consequence of local adaptation? Ecology 88(4):882–890. doi:10.1890/06-1105

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Partecke J, Van’t Hof TJ, Gwinner E (2005) Underlying physiological control of reproduction in urban and forest-dwelling European blackbirds Turdus merula. J Avian Biol 36(4):295–305. doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2005.03344.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Poesel A, Kunc HP, Foerster K, Johnsen A, Kempenaers B (2006) Early birds are sexy: male age, dawn song and extrapair paternity in blue tits, Cyanistes (formerly Parus) caeruleus. Anim Behav 72:531–538. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.10.022

    Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2013) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Schulte-Hostedde AI, Zinner B, Millar JS, Hickling GJ (2005) Restitution of mass-size residuals: validating body condition indices. Ecology 86(1):155–163. doi:10.1890/04-0232

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz A, Henderson RW (1991) Amphibians and reptiles of the West Indies: descriptions, distributions, and natural history. University of Florida Press, Gainsville

    Google Scholar 

  • Shochat E (2004) Credit or debit? Resource input changes population dynamics of city-slicker birds. Oikos 106(3):622–626

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns SC (1976) Life-history tactics: a review of the ideas. Q Rev Biol 51:3–47

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stephan B (1999) Die Amsel. Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei Bd. 95. 2 edn. Westarp Wissenschaften, Hohenswarsleben

  • Strohbach MW, Haase D, Kabisch N (2009) Birds and the city: urban biodiversity, land use, and socioeconomics. Ecol Soc 14(2):31

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas RJ, Széskely T, Cuthill IC, Harper DGC, Newson SE, Frayling TD, Wallis PD (2002) Eye size in birds and the timing of song at dawn. Proc R Soc Lond B 269(1493):831–837. doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1941

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood SN (2004) Stable and efficient multiple smoothing parameter estimation for generalized additive models. J Am Stat Assoc 99:673–686

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuur AF, Ieno EN, Walker NJ, Saveliev AA, Smith GM (2009) Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with R. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Diana Höhlig, Stephanie Ibsen, and Pia Schmitz for obtaining Blackbird observations, and Simon Dietzel, Sarah Effertz, Daniela Dunger, Diana Höhlig, Terezia Lucenicova, and Rebecca Thier-Lange, for their help in mistnetting. Without the support of these field assistants this work would not have been possible. Stephanie Ibsen and two anonymous reviewers provided useful comments on an earlier draft and considerably improved the manuscript. The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, http://www.bmbf.de/en/index.php, FKZ: 033L038E), additional financial support was provided by Helmholtz Impulse and Networking Fund through Helmholtz Interdisciplinary Graduate School for Environmental Research (http://www.higrade.ufz.de). Bird handling and observations were carried out under the permission of the relevant German agencies.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Conservation Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Anja Russ, Annika Rüger & Reinhard Klenke

  2. Molecular Evolution and Animal Systematics Group, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Talstraße 33, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Anja Russ & Annika Rüger

Authors
  1. Anja Russ
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Annika Rüger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Reinhard Klenke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anja Russ.

Additional information

Communicated by F. Bairlein.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 214 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Russ, A., Rüger, A. & Klenke, R. Seize the night: European Blackbirds (Turdus merula) extend their foraging activity under artificial illumination. J Ornithol 156, 123–131 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1105-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1105-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation