Xref: utzoo sci.bio:3820 rec.birds:3064
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcsun!ukc!educ-isis!teexmmo
From: teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk (Matthew Moore)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,rec.birds
Subject: Re: Early birds
Message-ID: <1990Nov5.115920.14431@ioe.lon.ac.uk>
Date: 5 Nov 90 11:59:20 GMT
References: <5589@monu1.cc.monash.oz>
Reply-To: teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk (Matthew Moore)
Organization: Institute of Education University of London
Lines: 16

ms  ml   hong > writes:
>I am not sure whether anyone of you have had such encounters but recently, I
>discovered that birds would start to sing and chirp as early as three hours
>before dawn! They are definitely not owls and would gather in flocks on the   
>trees. It is usually still too dark for me to see them and the singing would
>stop about an hour before dawn. I do not recognise the singing and therefore
>can't identify them. 
>
>Is it normal for birds (excluding nocturnal ones) to be active so early in the
>day? Has it something to do with the geographical location (I am living in 
>Melbourne, Australia)?
> 

Is there any street lighting? Here in sunny London, (and elsewhere in
the UK), robins, in particular, can often be heard singing in the
small hours, in areas with street lighting.