Does sleep loss or sleep disturbance affect daily activities of birds?

Abstract

Sleep is essential for all organisms, and insufficient sleep can lead to a series of negativeconsequences. Presently, anthropogenic disturbances such as noise and light pollutionareincreasingly prevalent, and sleep deprivation as well as disturbances have been showntoaffectbehavioural and cognitive performances in a variety of animals, including humans. However, fewstudies have investigated the effects of sleep deprivation and sleep disturbance on thediurnalbehaviours of birds following the disturbance. This study focused on adult common mynas (Acridotheres tristis) and investigatedtheimportance of sleep on birds’ daily activity. I recorded the active and inactive time of commonmynasfollowing a 12-hour sleep deprivation overnight, 6-hour sleep deprivation during either thefirst orlast half of the night, and 12-hour sleep disturbance due to light exposure. The findings indicate that sleep deprivation from the previous night results in reduceddailyactivity levels of common mynas, with the 12-hour sleep deprivation having a greater impact thanthe 6-hour deprivation, and deprivation during the latter half of the night being more significant thanduring the first half, while the effect of light disturbance was comparatively minor. Futureresearchcould incorporate electrophysiological methods to further explore the consequences of long-termsleep loss in different avian species.