“…Such fallout events have been documented and mitigated for decades through rescue programs, e.g. in Hawaii (Raine et al ., 2017), Canaries (Rodríguez et al, 2023), Réunion (Chevillon et al ., 2022) and Azores (Fontaine, Gimenez and Bried, 2011). In these programs’ citizens and specialists search for grounded birds, collect them and after inspection for health by trained staff the birds are released at sea intending on mitigating direct mortality.…”
Seabirds, and particularly fledglings of burrow-nesting species, are greatly impacted by light pollution. During their inaugural flights from colony to sea, fledglings become grounded after encountering artificial light. Such groundings, or fallout events, affect many fledglings each year. To mitigate this light-induced mortality, rescue programs have been implemented for decades in many locations worldwide. Despite the notoriety of fallouts, the contributing behavioral and biological factors remain mostly unknown. How do the mechanisms of light attraction and light avoidance interact or how do they manifest in different groups (e.g., age, personality, populations), or light pollution levels, remain open questions. We tested behavioral preferences of Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis fledglings, rescued after being grounded in urban areas, and of breeding adults, for contrasting light sources. Fledglings and adults were exposed to one of the three treatments in an experimental y-maze set-up: white light versus no-light, blue versus red light, and a control with no-light on each arm of the y-maze. Both age groups have shown preferences for the no-light arms and the red light arm. The preference for longer wavelengths and darker environments, along with slower responses by fledglings, suggest that close-range light pollution appears to cause disorientation in seabirds. Our study helps to clarify the behavioral components of fallouts and provides further evidence of the disruptive effects of nocturnal artificial light on sensitive species.
“…Such fallout events have been documented and mitigated for decades through rescue programs, e.g. in Hawaii (Raine et al ., 2017), Canaries (Rodríguez et al, 2023), Réunion (Chevillon et al ., 2022) and Azores (Fontaine, Gimenez and Bried, 2011). In these programs’ citizens and specialists search for grounded birds, collect them and after inspection for health by trained staff the birds are released at sea intending on mitigating direct mortality.…”
Seabirds, and particularly fledglings of burrow-nesting species, are greatly impacted by light pollution. During their inaugural flights from colony to sea, fledglings become grounded after encountering artificial light. Such groundings, or fallout events, affect many fledglings each year. To mitigate this light-induced mortality, rescue programs have been implemented for decades in many locations worldwide. Despite the notoriety of fallouts, the contributing behavioral and biological factors remain mostly unknown. How do the mechanisms of light attraction and light avoidance interact or how do they manifest in different groups (e.g., age, personality, populations), or light pollution levels, remain open questions. We tested behavioral preferences of Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis fledglings, rescued after being grounded in urban areas, and of breeding adults, for contrasting light sources. Fledglings and adults were exposed to one of the three treatments in an experimental y-maze set-up: white light versus no-light, blue versus red light, and a control with no-light on each arm of the y-maze. Both age groups have shown preferences for the no-light arms and the red light arm. The preference for longer wavelengths and darker environments, along with slower responses by fledglings, suggest that close-range light pollution appears to cause disorientation in seabirds. Our study helps to clarify the behavioral components of fallouts and provides further evidence of the disruptive effects of nocturnal artificial light on sensitive species.
“…To pursue this idea further, we used data from 8954 Cory's shearwater fledglings grounded and rescued by the SOS Cagarro campaigns conducted in the Azores during 6 years (2016-2021). In addition, we re-analyzed data from 267 Cory's shearwater fledglings grounded on Tenerife, Canary Islands, in 2009 and 2010 (Rodríguez et al, 2012). We plotted wing length and body mass on the rescue date and ran local polynomial regressions using the method loess in the function geom_smooth of the package ggplot2 in R (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, v. 4.2.2).…”
Section: Evidence and Support On Hypothesesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Dots with light tones, that is, those representing years with full moon night around the mean peak rescue date, reach relatively low numbers of rescued birds in comparison to subsequent years. Source : Data come from the La Tahonilla Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (Cabildo Insular de Tenerife), Rodríguez and Rodríguez (2009), and Rodríguez et al (2023).…”
Section: Evidence and Support On Hypothesesmentioning
Rescue programs aiming to mitigate light‐induced mortality of seabird fledglings have reported that fewer birds are grounded (and rescued) during full moon nights. Two non‐mutually exclusive hypotheses have been proposed as explanations: (1) reduction of strandings because birds are less attracted to and disorientated by light pollution during full moon nights; and (2) reduction of fledging activity, that is, chicks avoid departing the colony during nights with increased moonlight. We argue that evidence from rescue programs and other studies supports the first but not the second hypothesis. The evidence supports the conclusion that a higher proportion of fledglings make it safely to sea during full moon nights than during moonless nights. Thus, there is a decrease in the severity of light pollution on seabirds around the full moon.
Seabirds, and particularly fledglings of burrow-nesting species, are greatly impacted by light pollution. During their inaugural flights from colony to sea, fledglings become grounded after encountering artificial light. Such groundings, or fallout events, affect many fledglings each year causing mass mortality events. To mitigate this light induced mortality, rescue programs have been implemented for decades at many locations worldwide. Despite the notoriety of fallouts and their conservation implications, the contributing behavioural and biological factors remain mostly unknown. How do the mechanisms of light attraction and light avoidance interact or how do they manifest in different groups (e.g. age, personality, populations), or light pollution levels, remain open questions. We tested behavioural choices of Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis fledglings, rescued after being grounded in urban areas, and choices of breeding adults, for contrasting light sources. Fledglings and adults were exposed to one of the three treatments in an experimental y-maze set-up: white light versus no-light, blue versus red light, and a control with no-light on each arm of the y-maze. Both age groups clearly chose the no-light arms and the red light arm. This choice for longer wavelengths and darker environments, along with slower responses by fledglings, suggests that close range artificial light appears to cause disorientation in seabirds. Our study helps to clarify the behavioural components of fallouts and provides further evidence on the disruptive effects of nocturnal artificial light on sensitive species like Procellariiformes.
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