Effects of artificial lights and moonlight on petrels at St Kilda

Miles, Will; Money, Sarah; Luxmoore, Richard; Furness, Robert W.

doi:10.1080/00063651003605064

Cited by 57 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Therefore, additional research on light types and intensities that may be associated with decreased fallout may be necessary (Rodriguez & Rodriguez 2009). For example, although some species are apparently attracted to weak lighting (Miles et al 2010), a threshold of light intensity (below which fledglings may disregard light and safely reach the ocean) could potentially be required for attraction to light to occur, although the possible existence of such a threshold has not been investigated. Perhaps more importantly, manipulating the wavelength of light (i.e.…”

Section: Susceptibility To Light Attraction and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ainley et al 2001, Le Corre et al 2002, Rodriguez & Rodriguez 2009, Fontaine et al 2011, Rodriguez et al 2012b). Methods to reduce overall light output, including attaching shields to bright light sources (which prevents direct upward radiation; Reed et al 1985) and simply decreasing total light output (King & Gould 1967, Miles et al 2010, have been shown to reduce total fledgling fallout in local areas. However, in these instances, young Newell's shearwaters were still attracted to areas in which many of the brighter lights were shielded (Reed et al 1985), and fledgling Manx shearwaters Puffinus puffinus were still attracted when most lights were turned off or shielded during a period of very diminished moonlight, suggesting that certain species are still attracted to very weak lighting (Miles et al 2010).…”

Section: Susceptibility To Light Attraction and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fledglings of certain seabird species, particularly in the families Procellariidae (shearwaters and petrels) and Hydrobatidae (storm-petrels), are attracted to artificial light on their maiden flights to the ocean (Harrow 1965, Imber 1975, Reed et al 1985, Telfer et al 1987, Le Corre et al 2002, Salamolard et al 2007, Rodriguez & Rodriguez 2009, Miles et al 2010, although the cause of this attraction remains unknown. As these birds approach light sources, they can become disoriented and fall to the ground following physical exhaustion or collision with manmade structures and vegetation, a phenomenon known as 'fallout.'…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More than 30 000 Newell's shearwater fledglings have been found as victims of fallout on Kauai during the past few decades (Griesemer & Holmes 2011), and thousands of other young shearwaters, petrels, and storm-petrels from different islands around the world are downed as a result of light annually (e.g. Le Corre et al 2002, Miles et al 2010, Fontaine et al 2011, Rodrigues et al 2012, Rodriguez et al 2012b. Despite this large number of fallout observations, certain elements of this phenomenon remain unknown, including the locations along the path from nest to the ocean from which fledglings are consistently drawn off course and downed by artificial light (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using observed seabird fallout records to infer patterns of attraction to artificial light

Troy¹,

Holmes²,

Veech³

et al. 2013

Endang. Species. Res.

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Attraction of fledgling shearwaters, petrels, and storm-petrels to artificial light has been documented for decades on islands around the world and is considered a significant threat to many species. Although large numbers of downed birds have been observed after being disoriented by light, several important elements of this 'fallout' phenomenon are unknown, including the locations along the path from nest to ocean at which attraction and/or disorientation occurs and whether fledglings can be attracted back to land after reaching the ocean in numbers large enough to contribute significantly to fallout. To investigate these questions, we compared observed Newell's shearwater Puffinus newelli fallout records (from 1998 to 2009) on Kauai, USA, with expected numbers generated from several hypothetical models containing basic assumptions related to fledgling movement and attraction to light. Based on our results, the spatial pattern of observed fallout is consistent with the amount of light that fledglings may view along their first flights to and beyond the coastline. This suggests that even fledglings from dark regions of the island may not be safe because they may view light after reaching the ocean and still be susceptible to attraction. These findings support recent modeling efforts predicting that most birds fledging from Kauai are likely exposed to at least some anthropogenic light. As nocturnal use of light by humans is unlikely to be eliminated, research on the types of artificial light that are both useful to humans and safe for seabirds may be crucial for the conservation of these important marine animals.

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Section: Susceptibility To Light Attraction and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Susceptibility To Light Attraction and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Using observed seabird fallout records to infer patterns of attraction to artificial light

Troy¹,

Holmes²,

Veech³

et al. 2013

Endang. Species. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Fledglings of certain small-to medium-sized shearwaters, petrels (Procellariidae), and stormpetrels (Hydrobatidae) are attracted to, and disoriented by, sources of anthropogenic light on their post-natal nocturnal flights to the ocean (Hadley 1961, Harrow 1965, King and Gould 1967, Imber 1975, Reed et al 1985, Telfer et al 1987, Le Corre et al 2002, Rodriguez and Rodriguez 2009, Miles et al 2010, though the reason for this behavior remains largely unknown. This disorientation can cause them to fall to the ground following exhaustion and/or crashing into manmade structures and vegetation (a phenomenon termed ''fallout'').…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling artificial light viewed by fledgling seabirds

2011

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Abstract. Artificial light is increasing in coverage across the surface of our planet, impacting the behavioral ecology of many organisms. Attraction to sources of artificial light is a significant threat to certain fledgling shearwaters, petrels (Procellariidae), and storm-petrels (Hydrobatidae) on their first nocturnal flights to the sea. Disorientation by light can cause these birds to crash into vegetation or manmade structures, potentially resulting in death from physical injury, starvation, dehydration, predation by introduced predators, or collisions with vehicles. We developed a GIS-based method to model the intensity of artificial light that fledgling procellariids and hydrobatids could view en route to the ocean (to estimate the degree of threat that artificial light poses to these birds) and present two models for the island of Kauai as examples. These models are particularly relevant to the federally threatened Newell's Shearwater, or`A`o (Puffinus newelli ), of which .30,000 fledglings have been collected in response to disorientation by lights on Kauai during the past 30 years. Our models suggest that there are few to no portions of Kauai from which young birds could fledge and not view light on their post-natal nocturnal flights, which is concerning given evidence of a Newell's Shearwater population decline. In future work using this technique, night light intensity layers could be altered to model the effects of modified coastal light conditions on known and potential procellariid and hydrobatid breeding locations. Furthermore, certain methods presented herein may be applicable to other seabirds and additional taxa in which attraction to anthropogenic light poses a serious threat, including migratory passerines and hatchling marine turtles. Components of this modeling approach could potentially be used to spatially estimate effects of other point-source threats to ecological systems, including sound and air pollution.

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What causes bird‐building collision risk? Seasonal dynamics and weather drivers

Scott

Danko²,

Plant³

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Bird-building collisions are a major source of wild bird mortality, with hundreds of millions of fatalities each year in the United States and Canada alone. Here, we use two decades of daily citizen science monitoring to characterize day-to-day variation in building collisions and determine the factors that predict the highest risk times in two North American cities. We use these analyses to evaluate three potential causes of increased collision risk: heightened migration traffic during benign weather, increased navigational and flight errors during inclement weather, and increased errors in response to highly directional sunlight that enhances reflected images. The seasonal phenology of collisions was consistent across sites and years, with daily collision rates approximately twofold higher in autumn as compared to spring. During both migration seasons, collision risk was best predicted by the weather conditions at dawn. In spring, peak collision risk occurs on days with warm temperatures, south winds, and a lack of precipitation at dawn. In autumn, peak collision occurs on days with cool temperatures, north winds, high atmospheric pressure, a lack of precipitation, and clear conditions with high visibility. Based on these results, we hypothesize that collisions are influenced by two main weather-driven mechanisms. First, benign weather at dawn and winds that are favorable for migration cause an increase in migration traffic in both spring and autumn, creating greater opportunity for collisions to occur.Second, for autumnal migrants, cold clear conditions may cause an additional increase in collision risk. We propose that these conditions may be particularly hazardous in autumn because of the high abundance of naïve and diurnal migrants at that time of year. Our analysis also establishes that a relatively small proportion of days (15%) are responsible for 50% of the total collision mortality within a season, highlighting the importance of targeting mitigation strategies to the most hazardous times.

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Effects of artificial lights and moonlight on petrels at St Kilda

Cited by 57 publications

References 16 publications

Using observed seabird fallout records to infer patterns of attraction to artificial light

Using observed seabird fallout records to infer patterns of attraction to artificial light

Modeling artificial light viewed by fledgling seabirds

What causes bird‐building collision risk? Seasonal dynamics and weather drivers

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