Why do birds chirp at night?

+45 votes
asked May 10, 2019 in Pets & Animals by Shantoria (880 points)
edited May 17, 2019
There are always a large number of birds just outside the widows of our bedrooms. Our windows are often left open because we have no AC. These birds can start chirping from midnight and continue chirping until morning. This is not an occasional occurrence, it happens every night. Who can give me a good explanation on why this happens?

2 Answers

+19 votes
answered May 17, 2019 by Vassili (1,140 points)
edited Jun 12, 2019
In fact, the main aim of birds when they call is to establish territorial authority and wade off prospective invaders. Some birds are known to call out in the night, especially whenever they see any night light or moonlight. Mockingbirds have been found to be quite active in the night. They can easily stay awake all night and call out to other birds wherever they find manmade lights such as the ones found on some parking lots all through the night. The danger they face when they don't call is the loss of their tuft or the need to fight before they get it. So they call to make other males around understand that someone has occupied that space for the next breeding season and no other male is permitted to come close.
+5 votes
answered Jul 18, 2019 by Verna-Catherine (900 points)
edited Aug 6, 2019

Why do birds chirp at night? Most birds spend their night hours sleeping, but some birds would like to chirp at night, such as the famous one, nightingales. Also, an owl, a mockingbird, or a whip-poor-will may also do this for their instinct.

1. Male Nightingale

The male nightingale is known to sing for a very long time during night hours. The nightingale's beauty mostly lies in his very melodious and loud songs that make use of a wide array of notes. The nightingale is known as Luscinia megarhynchos. Often found in Asia and Europe, he has a 6.5 inches long body. It is brown in color with a red tail and a beige colored underbelly. Luscinia,the thrush nightingale, makes use of very short chirping notes while singing, which makes me sound like a frog.

2. Mockingbirds

The northern specie of the mockingbirds are known to sing from February to November, at all hours of the day, whether night or day. Whenever there is a full moon, you can easily hear the unmated male birds singing. The northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), is a slender gray bird about 8-10 inches long. Each of his bright wings has a very bright white patch and two white bars on them. Seen all over North America, this melodious bird sings in a very loud and shrill tone that can last for a very long time. He is known to mimic several sounds like the sounds of other singing birds.

3. Whip-Poor-Will

For the bird, whip-poor-will, the dawn and dusk are his most active periods. About 8-19 inches in length, a brown body, a short beak, a moderately-long tail, a black throat, and black and grey speckles. When well camouflaged, the whip-poor-will known as Caprimulgus vociferous is hardly seen, but can always be heard calling himself all through the night. He can be found from the Atlantic Coast to the central Canada, Georgia and south to Oklahoma, his winter is mostly spent in Central America and southeastern United States.

4. Owl

The owl is known to be a nocturnal predator, always flying at night hours in search of small mammals, rodents, insects and other species of birds. He may chirp, hoot, screech, whistle of trill. Found all over the world, apart from Antarctica, there are well over 150 different species of owls in different sizes and colors. The owl's face is roundish in shape, with very large bulging eyes, and a hooked beak. Feather tufts can be found on some owls, which resemble ears at the top of their heads.

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