Why are birds singing in the middle of the night?!?!

I've noticed over these last few months the birds around here are getting VERY active in the night. I never used to hear birdsong at 2am. I'm in the midlands of England and I am very curious as to if this is happening in other parts of the world too.

Also if anyone has any theories as to a possible cause, that would be great too.
I spose it could be related to the recent UFO activity, as a UFO has just been sighted in the area. www.chad.co.uk... - recent sighting. Although I have already debunked it sadly as a light display in the town center, the cause of which could be seen from our street. Still this could only go further to disturb birds roosting in town buildings. However this has been going on for quite some time now, the birds at night thing.

My boyfriend has seen a UFO in this area though a few years back, and I always keep an open mind.

Or simply changes in weather patterns & other enviromental factors could be to blame.



[edit on 25-2-2009 by The Chez]

Nightingale

"Nightingales are named so because they frequently sing at night as well as during the day."

It is a migratory species

Not to mention, at least for birds in my area (Oklahoma) its getting warmer. They will liven up as it doesn't get so cold at night. Don't know if that applies to your area though.

It's been a FREEZING winter here in Britain. I had another thought, as there has been so much snow on the ground, the moonlight & other lights reflecting off the snow and into the sky could have given them a false sense of daylight.

These are not Nightingales, these are just common garden bird sounds, such as blackbird, starling, tits & finches etc. Another funny thing is we have a cat, so we don't really hear or see them round our house, until now obviously. We also have a rabbit, so I spose his food could lure some in.

Part of it is because the landscape is so bright and light polluted.

And some species do sing at night. Mockingbirds, for instance, will get it into their pointy little heads to hold an "I'm the biggest birdie" contest in the middle of the night.

They respond to light.
If there is a very bright moon or Venus or something.
They think its morning and start singing.
But then they soon realize it isn't morning and go back to sleep.
After they fly out of the tree, and smash into a wall realizing they cant see.
Street lights can do it to them.
They do this anywhere in the world.

It's called Spring. Happens every year. Recent mild weather has started them thinking of establishing territories and finding a mate.

The Beatles even wrote a song about it

Blackbird singing in the dead of night ...

Thanks Essan for the explaination.

I too have noticed this a lot in the last few weeks. I'm quite the nightowl have noticed this phenomon too. I live in Indy and it's still quite cold here with some snow still on the ground.

Even though I've never noticed this happening in past springs, it seems a plausable explaination as does the brightness of venus & the moon.

I work night shift and I've been noticing this quite a bit myself last few weeks I take a break about 2:30 am every night and the birds have been going crazy lately at that time.

Whether it's natural or not I won't pretend to know but I cant recall it the last few years anyway and as for the brightness well there really isn't very much.

It struck me as odd but something I'd forgotten about till I read this.

Yeah its because of the lights, birds are very photosensitive.
In chicken farms only little light is needed during the night to offset their production cycle and cause great money loss.

Well I dont live in the UK but I'll give you guys a little tid bit to chew on.

In my area we have been infested with all types of birds. During the day it's like Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds' and at night if you go past a lit parking lot, there is no concrete just a field of birds hanging out on the ground.

In the 16 years I've lived in this area this is the first time I have seen such happenings with birds.

reply to post by The Chez


Wow! I was just wondering this same thing yesterday!!! I live in Ohio, U.S.A. Yesterday I was eating my after work snack around 2:30am (I work night-shift), and I heard the Song Sparrows chirping in the tree in my front yard. To my knowledge, these types of birds are diurnal, and 2:30am is a bit early

I live in the eastern part of the U.S. and this is the first year that i've noticed birds singing at night, all night long..... which is the reason i came upon this thread when i did a search about it. any thoughts on this would be apprciated, because frankly it's starting to creep me out when i'm lying in bed at 10 pm and can't sleep because the birds are singing so loudly.

Hi, I'm new to this forem/site so apologies if any mistakes. I noticed the last post on this subject was 2009. I've just noticed recently a lot of early chirping where I am in north Lincs. No change in street lamps etc, or bright night sky's.

I love birds!

And I love this thread. So thank you OP for starting it.

Oops.