Effects of artificial light at night on the nest-site selection, reproductive success and behavior of a synanthropic bird

Abstract

Understanding how artificial light at night (ALAN) impacts wildlife is increasingly important because more and more species are colonizing urban areas. As most of the bird studies on ALAN use controlled light set inside or around nest-boxes, the ecological effect of ALAN resulting from in situ streetlight on birds remains contentious. The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) often builds open nests on buildings, which are directly exposed to varying intensity of ALAN, and thus provides a good system to examine the effect of in situ ALAN on birds. By examining the nest-site selection, reproductive success and behavior of barn swallows under various ALAN intensity in Taipei City, we found a positive effect of ALAN on their fledging success; nonetheless, such effect was only found in the swallows’ first brood, but not second one. We also found that parent birds in the nests with higher ALAN intensity had higher feeding rates and more extended feeding time past sunset, which were likely stimulated by the increased begging behavior of their chicks. The night-feeding behavior might contribute to the increased fledging success, especially at the early breeding season. Interestingly, despite of the reproductive benefits obtained from ALAN, we found that the barn swallows did not select nest sites regarding ALAN intensity. The weak nest-site selection perhaps result from the complex life history interactions involving ALAN and/or confounding factors associated with ALAN in cities. This study improves our understanding of how urban birds, especially open-nesting ones, respond to in situ ALAN and provides useful information for developing urban conservation strategies.