Robins sing at night so mates will hear call

THE ROBINS of Sheffield have had enough. The noise of England’s fourth largest city is just too much for them and they have given up trying to compete with the din.

Many are rescheduling their song recitals to the middle of the night, when motorists are tucked up in their beds and cars are off the road. A singer on the nightshift can get his message out without having to strain his syrinx, the avian equivalent of vocal chords.

Hearing birdsong at night is no longer front-page news. Nocturnal singing is now heard, not only in Sheffield, but widely throughout Britain and Ireland. Robins are the commonest performers, but blackbirds and starlings occasionally sing in the dark. Artificial light, it was thought, was responsible for the strange behaviour; streetlights were fooling the birds into thinking that dawn had arrived and that it was time to get up and welcome the new day.