Well, next weekend we move the clocks one hour back here.

I hate these two times of year. For some people, following a strict natural daylight schedule it's a non-issue; their birds go to sleep at dusk and wake at dawn.

For me, doing a "version" of that (providing fake dusk and dawn) it's tricky and I have to be careful.

For people working all day it's a nightmare and that's me too. Because my birds go to roost at dusk but they think rainy days are dusk too LOL. We operate with no lights on here all day after 2 until they are in bed.

Anyway just a warning to maybe think about this today if your birds live in artificial lighting and plan for the change.

If you wake up [to go to work] at 7 right now, your birds will be used to the old schedule and this means you're waking them up at really "6" in their biological clook and they are losing one hours sleep like you but it's important to their wellbeing and not as important to ours.

Changing things slowly over the upcoming week may help. I've been trying to do it all along but not sure how successfull I've been.

I was thinking about this and trying to figure out the best way to adjust their schedule. I think this means I have to get up earlier!

it's irritating for sure. but i prefer to fall back over springing forward

i wasnt aware. does this effect the budgies as well. if so maybe no t as much?????possibly

I like that we don't change times.

I hate the fall time change because it gets dark before I even get home from work during the week. It always makes me feel bad getting them out when it's already dark outside, but that's the way it is because their daily exercise is extremely important to me.

LOL well you know I thought of YOU right away, Karen because you're running the clock every day like me.

Yes that means we have to get up earlier LOL and tip toe around (not possible here with BUDGIES).

Then if you put artificial lights on now [instead of dawn light], I'd slowly move the time back over this week maybe by 15 minutes a couple time.

I put a small lamp on the floor with a low watt bulb and use a dimmer to imitate the angle of the sun and sunrise. I do "sunrise" for 15 minutes. Then I wheel them into the living room where I have a lamp on about chest level to me with a florescent bulb not all that bright. That's for an hour while they fly and eat, then I leave the house with the regular light on.

(a trick I learned from Beatriz Casanueve about the dimmer and it's true it's important it be on the floor not up in the air because up in the air makes their bodies think it's about 11 am.So if you dim up in the air they fly to the curtain rod to be above the angle of the sun that's why people cant get their birds to bed at night when they hang up there.)

Except for 2horses's Peanut who owns all the curtain rods in the house.

It affects all birds who live in artificial lighting so the change impacts them more. Only because the humans change their schedule abrubtly so the bird get changed abruptly too.

They have a sensor in the brain, pituitary gland, and it operates from light and photoperiods. So that sensor tells their bodies what to do. Eat, sleep breed, molt, slow down for winter etc.

So our guys are on a fake timeclock and not a natural one unless they follow a strict natural schedule including dawn and dusk and no artificial lighting.

Doing that is the very best thing a person can do but if we work it's not so practical. So I try and give the exact amout of light inside as it's doing outside. In theory. I have to disclaim though not the parrotlets because they are HORRID on less than 12 hours sleep.

And my poor budgies hate having to sleep with them. My budgies are STRICTLY following the outside. This means they get a sliver of daylight in the am and start up cheeping right away LOL but the room's still dark for the parrotlets. Poor budgies

The first time you read someone has a hormonal bird in winter you can bet a dollar they are letting them have too much daylight. Considering it's only light out about 10.5 hours per day in the middle of December. So in a working house usually they are getting summer lighting....14 hours or so.

Now there are exceptions when they get alot of night but they still get hormonal...and those birds usually have other problems like a health issue or too much protein and nuts and spring food or other stuff. NOT mentioning any names or anything FNF8 heh heh)

In December my birds are in bed by 5 -5:30 depending on the month. I have to say they go up to the roost NOW at 5 which is overkill LOL they love sleep they should be playing longer but I dont interfere if they wanna go at 5 they go at 5. (which is why the budgies are IRATE about this )

**the months mentioned are northern hemisphere***

Totally agree. I hate it so much too, Sarah. THANK goodness my company instituted shifts and I can get off at 4. And I work three blocks from home

I moved here for that reason. 0 commute.

So I RUN home, open the cage and we have an hour.

Budgies are out free in their room the entire day so it's a non issue for them. ***note to others this is never safe only if you have two sensory deprived individuals who have ZERO curiosity about anything ****

Poor budgies have boings and have never one time in one year tried one out. So you can see Winston is doing great. Budgies have two toys they love in their cage and hate any other toy I put in. Very sensitive emotionally. Sorta like Jerry.



As long as you use a dimmer to wake them up (or natural light) but use a dimmer at actual "bedtime" for at least 15 minutes in their room they should be ok. Fake dusk. Fake dawn. <fingers crossed for all of us>

Actually, Cindy, it is more than just the pituitary gland. I've been doing a lot of research on how light affects birds lately (preparing for a piece on it for the website) and discovered that my text books were terribly out of date so I borrowed newer ones from the owner of the vet clinic (the fact that I must be paying half the rent in that place does bring a few extra benefits -LOL) and found out that light 'works' also on their pineal gland, on both retinal and encephalic photoreceptors as well as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (a very important biological clock) and melatonin receptors.

People have no idea how important it is for birds to not only receive the 'right' kind of light but also for it to follow a natural schedule. It truly is the forgotten nutrient as much as the only reliable biorrythm 'clock'... even for captive equatorial species.

Also, everybody, I know it's hard when you have to go to work in the morning but do try to do, at least, 30 minutes of fake dusk and dawn. I know it's a pain and, in reality, we have no (zero, zilch, nada) scientific information on how long do melatonin levels take to change in birds but we do know in people and it is 30 minutes, this plus the fact that canary breeders have been using a minimum of 20 minutes but recommend actually 30 for many, many years (even before we knew why) clinches it, in my personal opinion.