Bird not sleeping

tipseymcT

Theres a pair of blackbirds nesting in a tree beside the smoking hut in work,nest is clearly visible & at about shoulder height,they have no fear of humans as a few hundred people walk past them every day.

Anyway,was on the night shift for the last few nights & noticed that the pair are out foraging all night,I was in the smoking hut around 5 times over the night & they were hopping around the grass every time i went out there.
Is this normal? they seem to be on the go all day & evening too. can birds survive on little or no sleep?

swifts need our help!

any time I look at my swifts they are always preening, figgiting.

Were street lights lighting up where they nests? White or orange?

tipseymcT

theres orange street lights up all around the factory.

WildIreland

While it's light (thanks to the street lights) the birds will maximise their opportunity to forage. You'll probably find the male singing at night as well... defending his territory... for the same reason.

In cities robins, blackbirds and song thrushes regularly sing all night next to street lights. Even urban raptors like peregrines can change their hunting habits due to artificial light. Falcons are visual predators so they can't hunt in the dark -- but in cities there are records of peregrines taking night-flying birds like woodcock as they migrate over cities at night and are silhouetted against the glow from below.

Birds are light sleepers, and don't need the lengthy, deep sleep that we do to keep going. Regular, short "power-naps" throughout the day / night is enough to recharge their batteries. You can even see it in domestic chickens -- no matter what time of night I go and check them they are never what I'd call "properly" asleep, and are wide awake and alert within seconds of me opening the coop door.

On the plus side all of the extra foraging probably means that, for this pair at least, the chicks are getting plenty of food and should be doing well, despite the horrible weather this summer.

tipseymcT

Yeah,they have raised one brood successfully,their nest is very exposed but i suppose all the human traffic keeps predators away. Have seen a bird of prey a good few times hanging around there,dont know what type but the swallows always draw attention to it by mobbing it,have never seen it after dark. Also saw an barn owl one night,the blackbird alarm called as it flew over.
Its great to see them all going about their lives in such a busy area.

Scrappychimow

The blackbird in the tree across from my house always sings in the middle of the night.

Its not unusual at all .Sure listen to the beatles song -"Blackbird singing in the dead of night"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaSMROk-D-A