New Study: Full Moon Energizes Birds

by Amy Judd | September 18, 2008 at 10:02 am

1000 views | 18 Recommendations | 18 comments

A new study shows that at least one bird's level of activity will dramatically increase with moonlight, so the moon can affect the level of activity.

The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that lunar phases affect the behavior of insects, birds, fish and mammals -- including humans.

The study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Animal Behavior, is among the first to provide direct evidence for the "full moon effect," since many other claims have been based on indirect observations and even folklore, such as werewolf tales.

In the case of streaked shearwaters, the focus of the study, this marine bird flew for longer periods and landed on water more frequently on nights with a full moon. But because sharks and other bird predators also appear to be more energized on such nights, the shearwaters didn't stay on the water for long.

"Pelagic seabirds, including shearwaters, are known to be preyed upon by sharks or seals at sea, so birds are attacked from under the sea, not from the air," lead author Takashi Yamamoto explained to Discovery News.

"When birds are sitting on the water's surface at night with a full moon, it shades moonlight passing through into the sea, so predators might be able to detect seabirds using such shades," added Yamamoto, a researcher at Japan's National Institute of Polar Research.

He and his colleagues captured 48 streaked shearwaters at Sangan Island in Japan. They attached global location sensors to the birds. These devices recorded time, light levels, immersion in seawater and water temperature. Geographical locations were estimated using the light data. At the end of the study, the researchers recaptured the birds and removed the sensors.

Since the birds are in the middle of the food chain, they not only move more to escape full moon-stimulated predators, but they also seem to take advantage of the improved light situation by feeding at night on squid and fish, especially their favorite: anchovies.

Lunar cycles can change insect and bird hormones and influence fish reproduction.
The same cycles could affect hormone changes in humans too, but it is still unknown yet how that could happen in either birds, mammals, fish or even humans.

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nagoh

at 11:27 on September 18th, 2008

This is a photo I took of the full moon dated 09-14-08

www.mydigitaleye.com

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noahspaeder

at 11:38 on September 18th, 2008

Front yard photography. The full moon has an affect on me.

noahspaeder has contributed a photo to this story.

Kim Moore

at 12:21 on September 18th, 2008

Not my best shot of the moon by far but with so many full moons over the last few nights, it makes you wonder just what part of nature can be affected by the moonlight.

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le_poulet

at 12:37 on September 18th, 2008

Full moon over Potrero Hill, San Francisco

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bucule

at 14:50 on September 18th, 2008

Fast shoot between electricity gone ..taken on 17.09.2008 00:16h

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pc_loadmaster

at 16:02 on September 18th, 2008

I've always been drawn to nature and natural sciences. This particular event just draw me to do a shoot on that evening.

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patgarcia

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 17:18 on September 18th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Amy Judd

at 18:35 on September 18th, 2008

Thanks for the flags, comments and photos everyone!

iAZooooZ

at 18:42 on September 18th, 2008

i hope u like it .. :)

iAZooooZ has contributed a photo to this story.

ericlbc

at 19:27 on September 18th, 2008

This photo was taken two days after the Mid Autumn Festival in Malaysia. The moon was particularly yellow on that night, and this prompted me to capture this image. Thanks Amy Judd for an interesting article!

ericlbc has contributed a photo to this story.

Photography by Tim A. DeVore

at 19:35 on September 18th, 2008

Great story, very interesting. I think there is no disputing the fact that some Human behaviors change during a full moon. Why should it not affect all creatures great and small. Excellent coverage!

~Tim

Tinman Heron

at 19:40 on September 18th, 2008

Photo I took one early morning as the sun was rising and the moon setting. Couldn't resist taking the pic.

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samhita2008

at 22:22 on September 18th, 2008

I am happy to share one of my shots over here....And I would like to get the whole story for which this photo is required.......

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Emilio Lizardo

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 05:13 on September 19th, 2008

Moonstruck! Does The Full Moon Influence Behavior?

Violence, Aggression and Crime

11,613 cases of aggravated assault in a 5-year period: assaults occurred more often around the full moon.
Reference: Human aggression and the lunar synodic cycle (1978)
34,318 crimes in a 1-year period: crimes occurred more frequently during the full moon.
Reference: J. Psychology, vol. 93:81-83, 1976.

Anxiety, Depression and Psychosis

18,495 records from patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital in an 11-year period: admissions for psychosis were highest during the new moon and lowest during the full moon.
Reference: Lunar madness: an empirical study (1977)
25,568 psychiatric emergency room visits in a 13-year period: visits increased near the first quarter moon and a decreased around the new moon and full moon.
Reference: Human aggression and the lunar synodic cycle (1978)

Emergency Room Calls/Emergency Room Visits/Hospital Admissions

Calls to a poison center monitored over a 1-year period: unintentional poisonings occurred more often during the full moon cycle. However, the number of calls due to intentional poison exposure (suicides/drug abuse) was significantly LOWER during the full moon and higher during the new moon.
Reference: Lunar cycle and poison center calls (1983)

Animal Bites

1,621 patients over 3 year period who were bitten by either a cat, rat, horse or dog: the incidence of animal bites was significantly higher around the full moon.
Reference: Do animals bite more during a full moon? Retrospective observational analysis (2000)

billtait123

at 18:02 on September 19th, 2008

This evening the ottawa sky was cool 10deg and clear . the moon was full and bright . Perfect for photography .
This was taken with a 400mm maual lens adapted to a canon 300d . that makes it about a 600mm with the conversion factor applied .
I'm not sure how the moon afects birds migration , but every thing on the planet is connected one way or another .

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dededebra2

at 19:04 on September 20th, 2008

This was clouds that were coming in from Ike.

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easynfreeuk

at 23:51 on September 23rd, 2008

New camera, old Moon. Who can deny its influence?

easynfreeuk has contributed a photo to this story.

peaceful-daze

at 08:02 on October 6th, 2008

The moon was big and bright, all was quiet and dark at our cabin, so we decided to try to get a good photo of the moon. We were very pleased to find we had taken a good photo.

peaceful-daze has contributed a photo to this story.