Lauren,
There has been much discussion over the yrs. on many of these bird boards about what lighting is best for our flock members. I have read most all of the papers & articles done about this subject.
One of the leading authorities on Full Spectrum Lighting for birds is/was Patrick Thrush. He started his own line of lighting products not too long ago (spectrabird.com) but every time I look at his website, it says it is down temporarily and it has been saying that for along time now. I last looked about a month or so ago. Don't have any idea about what is up with that.
Anyway, based on what his papers & research on the subject said (etc.), I chose to use Phillips 4 ft. long fluorescent tubes with a Kelvin rating of 5000 and a CRI # of 98 (highest possible in man made lighting). I use 2 tubes in a linear type shop light powered by an electronic ballast (don't use the magnetic ballasts). The tubes many of us over the yrs. chose to use are the Phillips F32T8TL950 tubes. Not easy to find, H.D. did not sell them before (not sure if they do at this time). You would have to Google where to buy them or someone on here may be able to tell you.
I do think they are worthwhile but I am no authority as I also keep my flock members outside yr. round, only bringing them in on a rotational basis for sometimes desired human interaction time. I only use the light tubes then but do not use them often enough or long enough to definitely say I see any marked improvement in my birds health or feather condition, etc.... I do keep canaries inside all the time and they seem to benefit greatly from the use of these tubes.
The general consensus if you are going to use indoor lighting for birds is not to use aquarium lights or reptile lights, etc. ... Use the best you can for birds and that is said to be the linear fluourescent tubes, not any screw-in type bulbs.
Try googling for more detailed info. or use the search feature on many of these bird boards to read the many discussions on this topic over the yrs. and then make your decision.
Since Baltimore has swapped weather with the Pacific northwest, the rain has blocked a lot of the sunlight that used to flood our computer/bird room. I'd like to add a light that will come on during the middle of the day, on a timer. Are the "bird lights" worthwhile, or should I just use any old light? Thoughts?
