Hi all
As I've enjoyed birds and bats feeding near lamps I don't blame Craig
Williams for his original email when he asked if other have noted
Kookaburras exploiting human light regimes to good effect.
BUT is it "good"? There is increasing concern, following the pioneering
work by Prof Gerhard Eisenbeis of Johannes Gutenberg Universitat in Mainz,
Germany, that artificial light is greatly damaging insect diversity across
the globe. Lighting can attract insects to be fried, separate males from
females (especially where the females are wingless) and vacuum them up to be
caught by predators.
Here in Melbourne we have, for instance, a Yarra bridge - the Bolte - which
has been turned into an "icon" with brilliantly lit towers. Thousands of
Silver Gulls, now breeding throughout the year!, can be seen flying there at
night. (Of course they are also feeding elsewhere with chicken bones found
by Ian Temby at their nest sites!).
Gerhard's experiments so far conclude that sodium rather than mercury vapour
and lamp shades which direct their light to where it is needed (downwards)
will help insects (ie. bird food, pollinators, leaf cullers) and save energy
(= global warming).
Michael Norris
Bayside Friends of Native Wildlife
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