Are the birds waking up early where you are too?

The purpose of this thread is threefold:
1. To discuss and theorise why birds (initially around my area) are waking up much earlier than usual.
2. To discover if there are other examples of this happening either here in the Uk or in other countries.
and, if no reasonable explanation can be found,
3. To create awareness of yet another strange alteration to the 'natural way' of things.


Since shortly before Xmas 2010, I noticed the birds in my area were (and still are) all waking up between 1am and 3am. From around 1am, they begin to wake up and by 3am they are all tweeting and chirping away like it's daylight.
Although now used to hearing the birds chirping loudly at my window as I go to bed, this initially created a kind of "jetlag" in me, making it difficult to sleep because my ears were telling me it was time to get up!
In 38 years of living deep in the countryside, I have never known this to happen to such an extreme, other than on clear nights with particularly bright and full Moons or during the middle of Summer. Neither of these explanations apply here, of course.

It would've been nice to attribute this to the "SuperMoon", but it's been going on every morning without fail since around November - December of last year, so I can only assume that this has nothing to do with the Moon whatsoever.
All the streetlights in the area are fairly old and haven't been replaced or altered as far as I'm aware, so it's likely not them.
In fact, nothing new has happened that I know of to warrant making all the birds around my home wake up well before dawn. There doesn't seem to be any change in the light conditions, or at least, not those that can be picked up by human eyes anyway.

The only thing I can think of that may be a factor, is if they are starving due to having just experienced a particularly long and hard Winter, causing them to arise earlier than normal due to hunger. I'm far from being an expert on birds however so this is purely assumption based upon little knowledge.

For your additional information, I currently live in Suffolk, East Anglia, UK, and have lived in this particular abode for just over two years.




So, anyone else having problems with the birds waking up earlier than usual during Winter?
Anyone else (ideally from the UK countryside also) who can attest to this being a common phenomena?
Any ornithologists present who may be able to shed light onto the seemingly unusual behaviour of these birds?

Thanks in advance, OP

Robins do wake up early at this time of year. I have a rather vocal one outside my windwo at 3am EVERY day singing away like pavarotti!

brb with sound file.... ok found one but it's not that good sorry as it isn't the 'same' as the current spring song www.youtube.com...

Street lights and floodlights can trigger singing in the middle of the night, and if roosting robins are disturbed, they can burst into song even in complete darkness.

hi there. i am from germany, i do work most of the time early shifts and i did recognice that occurance too. even in winter time there were birds tweeting at 3.45 am ! yesterday 4am in the morning same tweeting. not long time ago i havent heard them tweeting before 4.45 am or so.

so dont judge me for any lack of english grammar...

I'm from Toronto Canada and it's nothing to be alarmed about. In the Spring and Summer when more birds start migrating back it's not unusual to hear them chirping at one another early in the morning several hours before the sun rises... (I've heard them start at 2am before) and living with a giant maple tree out front and on the top floor of my house with open skylights I hear EVERY chirp lol... you get used to it after a while and it's rather pleasant actually.

reply to post by OptimisticPessimist


Yes! I live in Suffolk too (North) on the coast and last month I actually said to my partner at 1.30am, why are all the birds awake!? I have been here 10 years and I'm always awake till silly hours but since just before Christmas I hear them all the time through the night.

I've always been a nightowl & for the best part of my adult life have rarely gone to bed earlier than 3am. The birds seem just fine to me. Annoying yes, strange no.

Hmm in my area I haven't really heard them early in the morning but I see them late at night on the bird feed feeding and all that. Perhaps I'll stay up later tonight and see if I can hear anything

reply to post by OptimisticPessimist


I've seen alot less birds in my srea of Sydney.....

and I've also noticed some of my trees are dying and also those in other properties

a link?

Im from SC and I found this odd also, around the corner from my house the family has a rooster who all the sudden sounds the alarm between 3-4 am. This is strange its no sun in sight.

Western NC here. The past 2 nights the birds have been chirping at around 0300. Thought they were confused due to the brightness of the moon.

OMG amazing, funnily enough for the last few months, began tail end of last year (and I nearly thought about starting a thread myself, but thought maybe I was going mad), I hear birds in my area really loudly, and at the wrong time of the day, somtimes its the afternoon, sometimes its in the evening, or even late at night ! (shouldn't they be sleeping at this time !!! )

More the point I am in the South East of England, in a city, really , really weird in my opinion, thank you for starting this thread, very much of interest S+F

reply to post by OptimisticPessimist


I am in Plymouth UK,

Birds are tweeting from 01.00am to 03.00am then 04.00 to 07.00.

They fire up again at 19.00pm to 21.00.

It's a good thing i find bird song relaxing, would drive me nuts otherwise.

Incidentally since last year i have been barely sleeping myself, so the birds are not alone in being energized.

Cosmic...

reply to post by solargeddon


Afternoon and right up till dusk is normal, I feed lots of them so see them quite alot. They have to eat a certain amount of food to beable to survive the night sleeping but it seems like quite alot of them are suffering from insomnia!

Originally posted by solargeddon
OMG amazing, funily enough for the last few months (and I nearly thought about starting a thread myself, but thought maybe I was going mad), I hear birds in my area really loudly, and at the wrong time of the day, somtimes its the afternoon, sometimes its in the evening, or even late at night ! (shouldn't they be sleeping at this time !!! )

More the point I am in the South East of England, in a city, really , really weird in my opinion, thank you for starting this thread, very much of interest S+F

I've been wanting to start a discussion about this ever since I noticed it, but was hoping it was going to die down. Unfortunately there is no let-up and they all still are waking up from 1am onwards. It's a din even with all my windows closed.
Nice, but not so when one needs sleep.

reply to post by OptimisticPessimist

I live in SW Arkansas and have also noted for the past six months such early bird activity and bird singing or loud and unusual chirping sessions. I have sound recorded some of those periods of observation and after analysis through sound digitizers and editing equipment, the singing is my honest opinion is not singing as much as it some type of bird like alarm system.

Some days are more noticeable than others, but the frequency analyzer shows stress and a higher pitch for more sustained periods of chirping as opposed to days when the birds sing like they are having a good morning and act like they are singing to each other in a harmonious bird like manner with pauses and responses.

I have tried to understand why the birds are alarmed at such an early hour before sunrise, perhaps they are communicating or if they are in someway distressed as if from perhaps food shortages. I have even considered chemical contamination and or magnetic and solar disruptions in our planets magnetosphere. While no specific cause is prevalent in any of my observations, I still contend the before sunrise chirping sessions are not normal and could be indicative of other phenomena that we have yet to consider.

I am glad to know that this phenomena is not specific to my state or geographic area, but it still puzzles me as to what it all means. Thanks for the posting. A decent subject matter for those that actually take the time to observe nature over a period of time. Thanks again and I hope my information helps you to see that this phenomena is indeed world wide.

reply to post by MissTiger


Only problem is, that until recently this couldn't be heard at these times of the day, thats what makes it unusual, I have wondered if perhaps some birds moved into the area that weren't here before ? I don't know, all I know is that I never used to hear this

reply to post by solargeddon


It could be because of the winter we have had as said in the op as the frosts would have kept killing off the crops so more birds are coming into the towns and cities to find food.

its funny because i have noticed the same thing, and it was also around christmas and new years. now i always have been a night person and im used to hear the birds early, especially during thd breading season. but hearing them loud as hell at 3am wasnt ever common around here, and now it is..


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by yzzyUK


Just a point about robins.

There are quite a few around my area and something else I've noticed only recently, is that they are all nesting next to each other! Not only that, but the other day as I was feeding the birds, two robins flew down together and were happily feeding alongside one another.
Considering they are supposed to be notoriously territorial, I found this odd also.

Actually, recalling this is making me sway more to the opinion that this could be to do with a possible lack of food, causing them to be too hungry to last the night.

Can an ornithologist substantiate this speculation please?

Reply to post by AnotherYOU

just wanted to add that in contrast for the last couple years i havent been gettin barelly any insects, hardly any flies, and been so long since ive seen a mosquito.. if plenty of birds feed on insects this could be related to as some poster mentioned, they may be hungry.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com