Daylight and Darkness

Nature constructed birds to live within a balance of day and night. In fact, the influence of daylight and darkness has been so great that it has been said that birds are a ''slave to light''.

Many effects can be had by shortening and lengthening the amount of light that the bird receives in 24 hours. Poultry raisers for years have stimulated increased egg production by having the lights in their poultry houses remain on extra hours after sunset. For centuries the Japanese have forced caged birds to sing in midwinter by lengthening their days by using candlelight for three to four hours after sunset. Birds' migration is partially based on days becoming longer in the spring and shorter in the fall.

Pet birds probably require the same amount of light and dark that are occurring in a natural day. In the summer the birds would have eight hours of darkness daily and in the winter they would have about 12 hours of darkness daily.

Birds in the family recreation room that are kept up until midnight every night because of the television programs and who then have their sleep cut short in the morning because the sun rises early or light is turned on may be receiving only five to six hours of sleep every day. Inadequate amounts of rest for birds will cause constant stress and eventually will show the result of this strain in a breakdown of their health.

The periods of light and dark can be controlled in pet birds with a heavy cage cover.