French court hears case of Maurice, the famous 'noisy' cockerel

Retired couple say rooster’s ‘abnormal noise’ disturbs them at holiday home

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris

Thu 4 Jul 2019 14.20 BSTLast modified on Fri 5 Jul 2019 08.32 BST

Maurice the cockerel, France’s most famous bird, whose piercing dawn call sparked neighbours to take legal action over noise pollution, has finally had his case heard in court.

A local court in Rochefort has begun examining the case of a dispute over the bird between neighbours on the Île d’Oléron. Two pensioners complained that Maurice was making abnormally high levels of noise that disturbed the peace at their second home on the island when he crowed every morning at 6.30am.

The dispute, which has run for more than two years, has been billed as a symbolic standoff between two ways of life: on one side are the islanders on the picturesque Île d’Oléron off the Atlantic coast, who say they have always kept chickens; on the other are people arriving from other areas of France to invest in second homes on the island.

Maurice has received support from all over France through a petition defending his crowing; in recent months his fame has been used to draw attention to key causes, such as posing this winter wearing a yellow hi-vis vest in favour of the gilets jaunes protesters.

Supporters have created an “I am Maurice” banner on social media and and even the head of one local authority, Dominique Bussereau, tweeted his solidarity.

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Toronto's noisy streets could be drowning out bird communication, new study says

A study out of Western Ontario says says songbirds have a harder time learning their songs when exposed to traffic noise.

Researchers studied the Zebra Finch, a bird native to Australia that can be found in per stores because they are easy to bred in the lab. But they are interested in what the results mean for wild song birds found in Toronto such as Yellow Warblers.

By: May Warren Metro Published on Tue Aug 30 2016

For a bird in the city, life can be a beak.

There are condo windows to avoid, light pollution and killer cats. Now, add to that noise that can make it nearly impossible to communicate with a friend, or worse, a potential mate.

Scott MacDougall-Shackleton, director of the Advanced Facility for Avian Research at Western University, has just published the results of a study that highlights the problem.

Birds exposed to urban noises like cars, motorcycles and the occasional siren have a harder time learning songs, the study showed, and that could make it harder for them to attract one another for breeding.

Just as we learn how to speak “birds have to hear their own species and practice” in order to produce their species’ normal sounds, the London, Ont., based researcher explained.

The study focused on baby zebra finches, which are native to Australia, because they are considered the “white lab rats” of songbirds. But, regardless of the songbird involved, the results are thought to be universal.

Anything that decreases the number of birds being born could have a trickle down effect, said Michael Mesure, executive director of bird advocacy organization Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP).

Source  

Owls' ability to hunt impaired by noise, research shows

Date: June 2, 2016

Source: Boise State University

Researchers have determined that noise has the potential to degrade owl habitat. The study by Jesse Barber, assistant professor of biology at Boise State University, and Tate Mason, a Boise State alumnus and education coordinator for The Peregrine Fund, is the first to examine the impact of noise on a predatory bird. Their findings were recently published in the journal Biological Conservation under the title "Anthropogenic noise impairs owl hunting behavior."

In the study, northern saw-whet owls hunted mice in a field-placed flight tent under the same acoustic conditions found 50-800 meters (55-875 yards) from a natural gas compressor station.

Owls are specialized avian hunters, and many are particularly well adapted to hunting by ear. In this study, researchers challenged 31 owls to hunt mice by ear (in the absence of light) under varying noise conditions. In this way, the independent effect of noise on hunting could be measured. Data showed that the owls experienced an 8 percent drop in hunting success per decibel increase in noise.

Read more … 

Highway noise deters communication between birds

Date: May 11, 2016

Source: University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Northern cardinals and tufted titmice are two abundant bird species in the woods of eastern North America. Many bird and mammal species rely on information from tufted titmice calls to detect and respond to dangerous predators. This causes important information networks to form around tufted titmouse communication. Results of a new study suggests that too much noise around highways keeps birds from hearing warnings from fellow birds about predators in the area, and that puts them at a higher risk of being eaten. It is also possible that the birds are hearing the alarms, but are too distracted by the noise to respond to them.

New research from University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers shows birds may be avoiding habitats near noisy highways because they can't hear fellow birds' alarms that warn them of attacking hawks or owls.

Some highways cut through or run along natural areas, and researchers know that wild birds often make their homes away from those highways, but they don't know why.

UF/IFAS researchers tested whether highway noise could be interfering with bird communication. Results of their study suggest too much noise around these highways keeps birds from hearing warnings from fellow birds about predators in the area, and that puts them at a higher risk of being eaten. It is also possible that the birds are hearing the alarms, but are too distracted by the noise to respond to them.

The researchers caution that they did not establish a causal link between highway noise and bird population reductions, although noise-disrupting alarm calls is a compelling possibility.

"Conservation of bird species should include decreasing noise in sensitive wildlife areas," said Aaron Grade, who led the study as part of his master's thesis in the UF/IFAS wildlife ecology and conservation department.

Grade and his graduate adviser, UF/IFAS wildlife ecology and conservation professor Katie Sieving, tested the abilities of northern cardinals to hear the predator alarm of tufted titmice by playing alarm calls to cardinals through speakers in both noisy and quiet locations in Florida state parks. They found that noise from vehicles along the busy highways often drowns out the alarms emitted by birds. Researchers went to Florida state forests near Interstate 75 and U.S. 441 in Alachua, Marion and Columbia counties to test whether highway noise could interfere with bird communication.

Northern cardinals and tufted titmice are two abundant bird species in the woods of eastern North America. Many bird and mammal species rely on information from tufted titmice calls to detect and respond to dangerous predators. This causes important information networks to form around tufted titmouse communication. Normally, northern cardinals listen to tufted titmouse predator alarm calls and will typically respond by fleeing or freezing until the danger passes.

Read on ...

At D/FW Airport, Wildlife Biologist Strikes -- Before Birds Can

By SHELLEY KOFLER

Round the clock, D/FW International Airport employees are scouring the grounds looking for dangerous intruders. Not human terrorists. Those with feathers.

Story on KERA radio

One recent morning, Larry Creel, an airfield operations employee, spots a potential problem, and alerts Cathy Boyles, D/FW’s wildlife biologist.

“We had a multiple bird strike on (runway) 36 right. Six pigeons,” Creel reports. 

This bird strike, like most other strikes, caused little or no damage to the plane. The half-dozen pigeons weren’t so lucky, though. The big concern is that the remaining flock will settle near another flight path.

“What we’re in the process of doing is moving one cannon from the north down to the south,” Creel says.

Boyles hops into a vehicle, radios her team, and heads toward runway 36 right. She wants to take a look at removing vegetation that may have attracted the birds. 

She’s glad to see the propane cannon that's been deployed -- a noise maker -- has caused the pigeons to move. It’s a cylinder that sits on the ground. When a small amount of propane gas is fed into the tube and ignited, it creates an explosive sound that’s blown out of the barrel’s open end.

“It startles them; makes them feel uncomfortable staying here so they’ll move somewhere else,” Boyles explains.

Coyote and deer, too

Boyles’ job is to keep birds and other wildlife -- the occasional coyote or deer -- away from aircraft. 

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To keep peace, Bristol considers ban on roosters

OCTOBER 1, 2013 : Updated: October 1, 2013 6:00am

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — Bristol officials are considering banning roosters to end the birds' early-morning wake-up calls.

The Bristol Press reports (http://bit.ly/18o2UlS ) that the city's Zoning Commission is responding to a rising number of complaints. It's considering the ban in residential areas.

Farmers would not be affected by new rules being considered. And those who now own roosters would be allowed to keep the birds, but not replace them when they die.

The city lets residents keep up to a dozen chickens in many residential areas with no specific wording in regulations about roosters.

City Planner Alan Weiner said the zoning enforcement officer typically speaks with the owner of a rooster subject of complaints. He said most understand the problem and get rid of the bird, but some refuse.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/To-keep-peace-Bristol-considers-ban-on-roosters-4858959.php

Artificial Lighting and Noise Alter Biorhythms of Birds

Sep. 24, 2013 — Noise from traffic and artificial night lighting cause birds in the city centre to become active up to five hours earlier in the morning than birds in more natural areas. These were the findings from an investigation conducted on 400 blackbirds in Leipzig by the interdisciplinary research group "Loss of the Night." Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) reported in the open-access journal PLOS ONE that these findings showed how ambient noise and light pollution caused by humans have significant effects on the behavioural patterns of city blackbirds, affecting their natural cycles.

The scientists choose the Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) as the model organism for the investigation. This medium sized thrush was originally a forest-dweller, but since the early 19th Century it has become well-adapted to the conditions of cities, where it is now a common resident that is easily identified by its very distinct birdsong. In spring of 2011 and 2012, both over 15 weeks, data on the behaviour of blackbirds were recorded and analysed in the 215-hectar study area in Leipzig. The study area covered an urban gradient of 3km stretching from the city centre through the Clara Zetkin Park to the floodplain forest.

For biologist Anja Ruß and some hard-working students the field work involved numerous nightshifts of patrolling blackbird territories between 1:30am and sunrise to record the birdsong behaviour of male blackbirds in order to locate and record the behavioural patterns of over 400 individuals. In addition, the scientists used data from official statistics for calculations on the distribution of artificial lighting and noise levels of the surrounding environment. Due to the artificial lighting of roads it was much brighter at night in the green areas close to the city ring road than in the floodplain forest. "The brighter the night, the earlier the blackbirds started their dawn song. We found this linear relationship for low levels of artificial night light but it seemed to reach a threshold. If this threshold is exceeded, an increase in light intensity will not lead to an even earlier onset of dawn song," reports Anja Ruß from the UFZ.

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If You Cut Down a Tree in the Forest, Can Wildlife Hear It?

Dec. 14, 2012 — A new tool developed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and its partners is being used by scientists and land managers to model how noise travels through landscapes and affects species and ecosystems -- a major factor in land and wildlife management decisions such as where to locate new roads or recreational trails.

The tool, SPreAD-GIS, uses spatial data layers to predict how sound spreads from a source through the surrounding landscape and how it is affected by such factors as vegetation, terrain, weather conditions, and background sound levels. By determining how sound propagates, potential impacts to wildlife can be forecasted. Such impacts can include reducing habitat quality, altering the geographic distribution of species, disrupting animal communication, and causing stress.

In an example discussed in the paper, the sensitivities of humans and owls to motor vehicle sound levels were compared. The results of the SPreAD-GIS analysis showed that in the same location, motor vehicle noise would affect owls in an area 45 percent larger than the area affected for humans. Exposure to noise may affect an owl's livelihood as the animal relies on its acute sense of hearing to detect even the slightest movement of its prey.

Read on:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121214112614.htm