Light pollution can have an effect on birds

European eagle owl. Picture Denis Minihane

Perpetual light shines upon us; we have turned night into day. But we still miss the primordial darkness. A dark sky park was established at Ballycroy near the Nephinbeg Mountains, “the very loneliest place in the country” according to Robert Lloyd Praeger. Neither artificial light nor urban glow blots out the starry vistas there.

Do wild creatures need darkness too? Nocturnal birds see as well at night as we do on overcast days. An owl’s eye traps every last photon in the gloom, but night-vision comes at a price. Eyes which are sensitive to the dark don’t work well in the cold light of day. Artificial light may affect creatures which hunt or forage by night and those that depend on darkness to avoid their enemies.