Lighting

[Leih]

My apartment doesn't get the light I'd prefer, it's a main reason why I want to move but I can't right now. I'm interested in these UV and Full spectrum lights for daytime in the bird room. There's so much info but I think here is a great place to ask with so many experienced people! Are they a waste? Is one better than the other, ie full spectrum vs UV? (isn't UV part of the full light spectrum?) Will they negatively impact hormonal birds? Is there a certain amount that is beneficial but not overkill? The feather brite bulbs are on sale right now so it got me thinking!

 

[Karen]

The feather brite bulbs are on sale right now so it got me thinking!

Through the years I've been all over with lighting and have used tubes and light set ups. For the past couple years I use the
Featherbrite bulbs (5500 Kelvin, 120 volt, 20 watt) in floor lamps. I have 4 in a room that is sized 11 x 24.

I just noticed they need replacing! Thanks for this post. It made me look at them to see what I have. I always write the date on the bulb so I know when to change them. Who has them on sale?

 

[Leih]

Through the years I've been all over with lighting and have used tubes and light set ups. For the past couple years I use the
Featherbrite bulbs (5500 Kelvin, 120 volt, 20 watt) in floor lamps. I have 4 in a room that is sized 11 x 24.

I just noticed they need replacing! Thanks for this post. It made me look at them to see what I have. I always write the date on the bulb so I know when to change them. Who has them on sale?

Mybirdstore.com has them 20% off.

 

[Mizzely]

I go over this a bit in my D3 article : Vitamin D3 for Our Birds

I think they are an expensive waste myself sadly, unless they are otherwise good for vision.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vaw2vX7OznVP8FVsBcVfI77o_&cshid=1562072221325

To further complicate things, CFL and LED supposedly flicker in a way that birds can see and it may cause stress and behavioral issues.

Small birds' vision: Not so sharp but superfast -- ScienceDaily

 

[Ripshod]

You've already stated that your home is not as bright as you'd like it so I'd say yes, definitely go for some form of additional lighting. Just a brighter home would increase the energy levels in your birb and you'll see the benefit almost immediately.
Our birbs can see UV-A, so by providing this you help your birbs see in full colour rather than being colourblind.
Now UV-B. It's been debated in many places including these forums about whether it actually works to help provide Vit D. I say it may only be a small dose but it does make a difference. Any amount of UV-B is better than none at all.
Don't go for the UV labled bulbs. They are tailored to producing the maximum UV so lose a lot of the visible colours, and don't really give any benefit. High UV-B bulbs can blind our birbs, so stay away from the reptile bulbs and such.
Full spectrum avian bulbs are the ones you want. Increased light through the whole visible (to us) spectrum, plus the UV-A our birbs can see, and a little bit of UV-B to help produce a little natural Vit D.

*edit*
True AVIAN lighting operates at much higher frequencies so no flicker.

 

[Leih]

You've already stated that your home is not as bright as you'd like it so I'd say yes, definitely go for some form of additional lighting. Just a brighter home would increase the energy levels in your birb and you'll see the benefit almost immediately.
Our birbs can see UV-A, so by providing this you help your birbs see in full colour rather than being colourblind.
Now UV-B. It's been debated in many places including these forums about whether it actually works to help provide Vit D. I say it may only be a small dose but it does make a difference. Any amount of UV-B is better than none at all.
Don't go for the UV labled bulbs. They are tailored to producing the maximum UV so lose a lot of the visible colours, and don't really give any benefit. High UV-B bulbs can blind our birbs, so stay away from the reptile bulbs and such.
Full spectrum avian bulbs are the ones you want. Increased light through the whole visible (to us) spectrum, plus the UV-A our birbs can see, and a little bit of UV-B to help produce a little natural Vit D.

*edit*
True AVIAN lighting operates at much higher frequencies so no flicker.

Hmmm this one doesn't say uva or uvb....
For the price I'd be willing to give it a try.

Featherbrite LED UV Blue Bulb - Mybirdstore.com

 

[Leih]

I go over this a bit in my D3 article : Vitamin D3 for Our Birds

I think they are an expensive waste myself sadly, unless they are otherwise good for vision.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://mickaboo.org/newsletter/jul13/work/Proper%20Lighting%20to%20Support%20Avian%20Vision.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjdqfD5o5bjAhXZXc0KHTU0C9wQFjALegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw2vX7OznVP8FVsBcVfI77o_&cshid=1562072221325

To further complicate things, CFL and LED supposedly flicker in a way that birds can see and it may cause stress and behavioral issues.

Small birds' vision: Not so sharp but superfast -- ScienceDaily

Really interesting articles! I'll have to look in more depth after work. But now I wonder about the lamps that are currently in the bird room. I think they are LEDs.

 

[Mizzely]

Really interesting articles! I'll have to look in more depth after work. But now I wonder about the lamps that are currently in the bird room. I think they are LEDs.

I have LED in my home too and I personally haven't noticed any issues. But, I do have a lot of natural light that comes in to Ripley's area so I wonder if that helps even out the flicker?

 

[Mizzely]

*edit*
True AVIAN lighting operates at much higher frequencies so no flicker.

Oh really? That's interesting. I've never heard that before. Is that listed on the bulbs or in an article somewhere? I'd be very interested in changing my mind about expensive Avian bulbs if that is the case!

 

[Ripshod]

Oh really? That's interesting. I've never heard that before. Is that listed on the bulbs or in an article somewhere? I'd be very interested in changing my mind about expensive Avian bulbs if that is the case!

The ones I use Parrot Pro UV Flood | Bird Lighting

I have LED in my home too and I personally haven't noticed any issues. But, I do have a lot of natural light that comes in to Ripley's area so I wonder if that helps even out the flicker?

We don't see the flicker normally but our birds can. It's called persistence of vision or something. Many modern LED lamps convert the AC mains to DC before feeding the LEDs so there shouldn't be any flicker at all. To see a mains flicker try videoing under a domestic flourescent.

 

[Ripshod]

Hmmm this one doesn't say uva or uvb....
For the price I'd be willing to give it a try.

Featherbrite LED UV Blue Bulb - Mybirdstore.com

The specs say 0.04% UV-B, so not much. And they're designed to supplement the featherbrite full spectrum lamp.

FeatherBrite LED UV Blue Bulb

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Waveformlighting.com has some good information about lighting. They carry an avian line of lights and a flicker free line of LED’s that are full spectrum. All high CRI too. I went with the flicker free because it seemed like a better fit for us. Interestingly, my daughter’s headaches have diminished since I got them. I’m not sure if they are the reason, but could be.

 

[Leih]

Waveformlighting.com has some good information about lighting. They carry an avian line of lights and a flicker free line of LED’s that are full spectrum. All high CRI too. I went with the flicker free because it seemed like a better fit for us. Interestingly, my daughter’s headaches have diminished since I got them. I’m not sure if they are the reason, but could be.

That's a really excellent site! Being in science, I appreciate all the details they explain. Do you have a variety of their products including the avian ones?

 

[Mizzely]

The ones I use Parrot Pro UV Flood | Bird Lighting



We don't see the flicker normally but our birds can. It's called persistence of vision or something. Many modern LED lamps convert the AC mains to DC before feeding the LEDs so there shouldn't be any flicker at all. To see a mains flicker try videoing under a domestic flourescent.

I know that we can't see it, and I have videoed it with my phone and replayed in slow motion. I meant that I haven't noticed any stress or behavioral issues (like the articles discussing the blinking of lights affecting birds) stemming from using LED lights with Ripley.

I don't have any CFL in my home. The flicker I saw was with LED lighting.

I don't see anything stating the mhz that the light operates at. The articles I linked earlier stated that birds can see it up to at least 145 Hz so I was hoping it would state what it operates at.

The scientific reason you don’t like LED bulbs — and the simple way to fix them

 

[Tiel Feathers]

@Leih I only have the flicker free 5000k centric daylight full spectrum LED. I’m using the bulbs for enhanced vision, not vitamin D, since I don’t really think any bulbs out there work well for that. I noticed their avian bulb looks good too though.

 

[Ripshod]

High frequency flourescent lighting has been around for decades. Manufacturers originally started to make it because certain markets were locked out by the health and safety peeps because normal flourescents can and do trigger epileptic seizures. So they increased the frequency out of the range of human eyes to open that part of the market and make even more money. You find a lot of the amenity lighting available today, including HID lighting is available with high frequency options making it safe to use in public areas. Just a little history.
High frequency ballasts can run as high as 500Hz. It would be easier to move to DC LEDs than work any higher. The arcadia parrot pro systems I have run around 285Hz depending on the age of the lamp. I know, I can be a bit anal with my equipment but I just like to know.

I did all the research when I first considered the light levels in my home. Like @Leih my home is a lot darker than I would like so I investigated proper avian lighting, even going to the producers of the lamps for specs. I'm an electrical engineer and I spent some time speccing lighting for hospitals and shops (public areas) so I was well aware of frequencies and DC lighting so everything I learned made complete sense.

 

[Ripshod]

@Leih I only have the flicker free 5000k centric daylight full spectrum LED. I’m using the bulbs for enhanced vision, not vitamin D, since I don’t really think any bulbs out there work well for that. I noticed their avian bulb looks good too though.

While I'm not against the cheaper lights I will say they are NOT full spectrum lighting without the UV. However it's your choice and I'm not going to do anything but commend you for thinking about your birbs. I'm sure you'll agree that the extra light has increased the energy of your flock?

I'm not here to say everyone must use such-and-such. Just giving the information to help peeps make an informed decision.

 

[Ripshod]

One last point then I'll leave unless I'm asked a question. Flicker doesn't have to be visible to cause a problem.

 

[saroj12]

I bought six waveform lighting avian bulbs last year and haven’t used them yet

 

[Leih]

While I'm not against the cheaper lights I will say they are NOT full spectrum lighting without the UV. However it's your choice and I'm not going to do anything but commend you for thinking about your birbs. I'm sure you'll agree that the extra light has increased the energy of your flock?

I'm not here to say everyone must use such-and-such. Just giving the information to help peeps make an informed decision.

I was going to ask if you were in a science!

I ordered a Featherbrite uv bulb, but am trying to cancel my order since seeing a better product isn't terribly more expensive. I mainly want to use something that can be used in standard lamps. I have the bird room on timers (of course!) and I just can't invest a lot of money into a big setup. And of course any light improvements I make will be better than nothing! I'm in a notoriously cloudy area of the US and my apartment windows are on the north side.