Sleep is an essential, not only for we humans.  We’ve learnt that disrupting sleep patterns doesn’t do us any favours, to put it mildly. Harm would be a more accurate descriptor. And so it is with the other-than-human species we share the days and nights with.

Birdlife Australia hosted a webinar (February 18, 2025) titled: Birds Meet: Night Lights and Sleepless Flights. Anne Aulsebrook, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Deakin University.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRYmzUzOnuM

The backgrounder to the presentation noted that, as far as we know, all animals need sleep – including birds. Usually, birds have a predictable daily cycle of sleep and activity, which is regulated by light. But what happens when the lights are left on? In this webinar, Dr Anne Aulsebrook discusses the effects of light pollution on city birds, the extreme behaviour of pectoral sandpipers during the Arctic summer, and what this research can teach us about the capacity of birds to cope with changing and extreme environments.

During the session, guest speaker, Dr Anne Aulsebrook, shared some simple but effective ways you can reduce the impact of artificial light on birds at night:

• Turn off lights when they’re not needed.
• Keep lights no brighter than necessary to avoid excess glare.
• Shield lights to direct illumination downward and reduce light spill.