Photo credit: Pixabay
by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board of Directors, GrowNYC, Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition, and Honorary Chair, Quiet American Skies
Just as the interest in the adverse effects of noise on humans has grown, so too has the interest in the effects on other species — evidenced in part by this blog’s extensive coverage of the subject. This article, by Herb Wilson, covers the impacts of noise on birds. It is largely drawn from the writings of a group of ornithologists who examined these impacts extensively. Before writing about how human-made noises affect birds, the ornithologists studied the deleterious effects of noise on humans such as sleep disturbances, cardiovascular effects and adverse effects on learning.
So how does human-made noise harm the birds in our environment? The authors noted that birds’ acoustic perception, physiological responses and behavioral responses were impacted. Birds communicate by sounds, so noise disrupts their communications. The noise intrudes on seeking out mates or informing fellow birds of a dangerous predator. Interestingly, Wilson reports that noise can affect a bird’s heart rate and produce stress, which can affect the number of infertile eggs the bird produces. Noise can also lead to hearing loss and suppress the bird’s immune system. Overall, we can conclude that indeed the health of birds is at risk in noisy environments.
In some cases, birds flee noisy places, leaving these areas with less bird diversity. If birds stay in the noisy areas, they will fall prey to predators, leaving surroundings with less bird diversity as well. And as bird songs are such a pleasant “sound experience,” these bird exoduses deprive us of wonderful environmental sounds. What will we hear instead? Modified mufflers, construction equipment, aircraft, ambulance sirens and amplified music blasts!
Wilson ends the article by stating that mitigating the effects of noise on birds is a significant challenge — a fact that is true for all species, including humans.
