Fireworks Make Wild Birds Sleep Less and Fly 300 Miles Nonstop, Study Shows

Wild birds frequently suffer detrimental long-term effects when fireworks are lit to ring in the New Year. According to a study, they fly 300 miles nonstop while getting less sleep.

For eight New Year's periods, an international team of researchers followed Arctic migratory geese as they flew through Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands to examine the effects of fireworks. Data from 347 geese revealed that on New Year's Eve, birds abruptly leave their sleeping areas and fly farther away from populated areas.

Aftereffects of Fireworks

When compared to nights when there were no fireworks, birds whose lives were disturbed by the noise and flashes ultimately took two hours less of a nap and occasionally flew nonstop as far as 310 miles.

But the fireworks weren't the end of their altered behavior. The geese didn't go back to where they had been sleeping and instead spent more time foraging to get enough food for days after the festivities were over.

The Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior's Andrea Kölzsch, the study's lead author, said the team had been observing Arctic geese in Western Europe for more than ten years, tracking the number of them with GPS technology, and examining their movements in relation to the environment, including the weather and climate.

The findings by Kölzsch and her team were published in the journal Conservation Letters.

In an interview with Treehugger, Kölzsch noted that the intense, widespread customer fireworks activity that occurs around New Year's in Western Europe severely disturbs wild birds.

Further research revealed that not only did most tracked geese fly far during New Year's Eve, in contrast to other nights when they typically just sit on a small lake, conserving energy and resting during the long, dark winter night, but the wild birds also foraged up to 10% longer throughout all 12 days after New Year's that the team had studied. The energy replenishing that they thereby do could be crucial in harsher winters.

Disruptive Blasts and Scared Birds

According to Kölzsch, their findings are crucial because geese migrate to Western Europe for the winter to avoid the harsh Arctic winters in their breeding areas. Even so, the winters here are gloomy rather than particularly cold.

Geese can only forage during the daylight hours because predators are active at night. They typically roost in coastal areas or small lakes at night to conserve energy and sleep in a relatively secure environment. The sounds of fireworks and the flashing lights on New Year's Eve catch the geese off guard, and they begin to fear for their lives.

Simply taking off in the dark can be risky because the birds run the risk of flying into things, but more importantly, flying requires a lot of energy, which is restrictive for them during the winter. The limited number of light hours the following day prevents them from foraging as much as they would like to replenish.

Not that the birds fled or were scared when they were discovered by Kölzsch, but rather how far some of them flew-up to 311 miles-which is a distance that birds typically only cover during migration when they are well-prepared and fattened. The aftereffect of the fireworks is rather strong and long-lasting, so the fact that they had to forage up to 10% more for the full duration of 12 days after New Year's was more than Kölzsch had anticipated.

According to Animal Ethics, other animals are also frightened by fireworks. Elephants and other animals, such as rhinos and cheetahs, are clearly affected by the noise of fireworks, and rodents continue to run for several minutes after the noise has stopped.

Pandemic New Year and a Fireworks Proposal

The team was also interested in whether fewer fireworks displays also had a less negative effect on birds. Did the birds travel shorter distances or did they engage in less foraging in the days following? However, in their study, they found that this was not the case. During the lockdown New Year's two of the four species displayed similarly ferocious flight behavior.

Therefore, even 30% of the typical fireworks activity is enough to startle animals. This conclusion is crucial if one wants to talk about how to make New Year's a better time for wildlife.

According to Kölzsch, banning consumer fireworks does not reduce their activity. Considering the significance of fireworks for people, a total ban is probably not the best solution.

The scientists suggest that one step toward reaching a New Year's compromise between wildlife and humans is to create quiet areas for wildlife. Animals would have places to retreat if there were national regulations prohibiting fireworks in and around bird or nature reserve areas.

Birds would still be startled and fly away outside of these areas, but not as far. Additionally, by planning fireworks displays and encouraging the public to events nearby, fireworks displays and activities could be somewhat centralized in urban areas, Treehugger reports.