File this under – sure, but why? This cute-but-totally-gratuitous solar-powered birdhouse is made by OOOMS, Dutch designers of products like the Twig USB drive. During the day, a solar panel mounted on the roof charges a small interior battery. At night, the landing perch lights up in anticipation of bugs who are addicted to the glowing brightness of nightlights. The idea is that birds can use the light to attract their prey close to their bed for a nighttime snack. Sounds like a good idea, because who says birds shouldn’t enjoy some nighttime outdoor lighting? We think this thing should be on a timer though — keeping a perch lit after 2 am is asking for a flock of birds starting some trouble. Strangely enough, these solar birdhouses are hot-ticket items at Charles & Marie (sold out when we checked!), but you can find them for sale at the OOOMS website.
Bad idea. Cute. But bad.
Birds (and most other vertebrates, and possibly invertebrates) need well-defined periods of light and darkness to regulate hormones, etc. Circadian rhythms are sensitive, and anything that’s not complete darkness gets construed as “light” by our brains and theirs. It’s already bad enough we’ve got them (and us!) blasted by city lights 24/7 in a lot of their habitat. But putting a light on a place where they’re supposed to be nesting is about as comfy and homey as us sleeping next to a mercury vapor lamp or a big old school neon sign.
“There’s nothing more frightening that ignorance in action.” — Goethe
Birders recommend only putting up birdhouses without perches as the main users of them are predators. The perch enables them to more easily reach in and grab the babies and eat them; giving them a night light is a bad idea made worse.
This is one of the WORST ideas I’ve read about in recent history, for the two reasons mentioned in the other two comments.
I totally agree with j9c, birds need defined areas of sleep and awake time. They evolved that way for a reason and the last thing they need is their sleep patterns disrupted form someone who thought they would make the bird house “cute” and completely unnatural.
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