The preference and costs of sleeping under light at night in forest and urban great tits.

ABSTRACT: Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an increasing phenomenon associated with worldwide urbanization. In birds, broad-spectrum white ALAN can have disruptive effects on activity patterns, metabolism, stress response and immune function. There has been growing research on whether the use of alternative light spectra can reduce these negative effects, but surprisingly, there has been no study to determine which light spectrum birds prefer. To test such a preference, we gave urban and forest great tits (Parus major) the choice where to roost using pairwise combinations of darkness, white light or green dim light at night (1.5 lux). Birds preferred to sleep under artificial light instead of darkness, and green was preferred over white light. In a subsequent experiment, we investigated the conse

SUBMITTER: Ulgezen ZN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6599990 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature