Animals respond to fearful situations

[Catherine]

I agree about the motion sensor lights. They flash on if the wind blows leaves past the sensor. Worse are car alarms. A squirrel can set them off and sometimes they just keep on blaring until the owner shows up. If the person is away or it is the middle of the night the sound can go on a long time.

I think light pollution is one of the biggest stressors on wild species in urban settings. The lights are hard on us too. We have no sense of day  or night. All our biological rythms are mixed up. It is more noticeable in birds because they are more fragile and have shorter lives. Bigger animals, humans included will eventually be effected by light pollution.

Normal stresses probably serve to keep a species alert. The abnormal stresses keep them on the alert too much and that would wear the body down. It is good to fear dangerous things, but when fear is constantly triggered it can be deadly.
There are a lot of humans who are suffering from anxiety just like the birds.

I think we are in a situation where helping the birds by reducing stressors will probably help us too.