Research finds birds affected by bad sleep sing fewer and less complex songs

Have you ever started your day after a bad night’s sleep and not felt like making much conversation? You’re not alone, as a recent study has found birds can also suffer when their sleep is disturbed.

Speaking to Herald NOW’s Ryan Bridge, the lead researcher of the University of Auckland study, Dr Juli Gaviraghi Mussoi, said birds in the study sang fewer and simpler songs than usual after a night of poor sleep.

The research, which focused on common mynas, also found that the birds spent more time resting during the day.

Birds used songs to find mates and new territory, as well as to communicate about food or danger around, said Mussoi.

The study said a poor-quality song could threaten the survival and reproduction of many bird species.

Mussoi told Bridge that birds were very similar to humans in the way they learned vocalisations.

“They have this like babbling stage when they are young, and then they learn their vocalisation and they are able to sing when they are adults.

Birds also had different types of sleep, such as REM sleep and non-REM sleep, like humans, she said.

“It made sense that if sleep is important for us and how we communicate the day after, that it would be important for them as well.”

The study recorded the songs and calls of the mynas before and after a poor night’s sleep, then compared the differences to find the result, she said.

Researchers used software to measure the “minute details” of the vocalisations.

Myna birds. Photo / Bevan Conley

Urban sound and light pollution were the biggest factors keeping the birds up at night, Mussoi said.

“Fireworks, but also noisy cars or lots of light outside, all kind of keep them awake.

Previous studies showed that birds also had a poorer quality of sleep when affected by noise and light pollution, she said.

The research was important because understanding the human impact on birds would help people take effective action when birds faced serious challenges, she said.

“If we know that light and noise are affecting their song and then their sleep, and later on, if they are not being able to breed as well, or find mates and survive, then we’re able to do something about it.”