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Nothing affects the breeding of birds like proper lighting. You can control your bird's breeding cycle by altering the amount of light and dark periods in your bird's room. When the right amounts of light and dark are present, you start the bird's instinctive gene encoded memory for the best time to reproduce.
The changing of the photo-period corresponds with the changing seasons. If you know where your bird normally lives in the wild, you can determine the latitude and then calculate the normal light and dark periods they experience. You can then try and reproduce this balance of light and dark to increase the chances of your birds going to nest. The amount of light in a day (photo-period) is the major controlling factor in spermatogenesis of the male bird. Without proper light the testes will not develop properly.
Light is also important for the birds to display sexual behavior. The male parrot displays to attract mates. Without this ritualized event, little if any breeding may take place. Too much light can result in non stop egg laying and excessive aggression in males of some breeds. It is also very important that both birds come into breeding condition at the same time. It can be life threatening for the female if the male is ready sooner than she.
The best lighting for a bird room would be one that has large windows facing south. With this light source, birds can go into a natural breeding cycle. Remember that light through a window does not give the full spectrum light that birds need to be healthy.
In winter, it may be necessary to use full spectrum lights. The breeding season can be moved several months ahead by planning the light cycle, gradually increasing the light hours. The normal amount of light is 10 hours. Gradually increase this to 15 hours, or between 14 and 16 hours, depending on the species.
Many breeders put their lighting on a timer. When programmed properly, it will keep your breeding program on schedule. If manually, you must pay close attention to your timing. A light left on all night or not turned on in the day can throw your breeding success off schedule.
Research at UC Davis showed that constant light (14 hours) and leaving nestboxes up all year, ceased to stimulate the birds to breed after a while. When birds are no longer stimulated and develop an insensitivity to the effects of long days, it is called Photo-refractoriness. It is the increase of light from 14 to 16 hours, rather than same amount of light daily, that turns birds on.
1. Preparation. This is a dormant lime and sexual organs are small and nonfunctional. The fat layer is built up. It is very important that the bird has long, dark hours, more important than the amount of light during this stage of the breeding cycle. The amount varies according to the breed, but about six weeks of long nights is about average.
2. Progressive. This is when the sexual organ begins to swell due to hormones that are being produced by the pituitary gland. Studies on some species show that at least 9 hours of light a day are needed for production of hormones and the sexual organs to begin to become functional.
3. Reproductive. The time of the cycle when birds build their nests, mate, and take care of the babies, and requires more light. Light kept at 12 hours a day lengthens this cycle. If you increase lighting to 14 16 hours a day, the cycle will be more intensifying and results in the shortening of the reproductive stage.
4. Regressive. This is the quieting down period. The pituitary gland produces less hormones and the sexual organs again begin to shrink. It is the time the birds do their molting. Many times, birds will go through an abnormal molt, due to the fighting conditions in the home.
Spectrum lighting is important for proper body function, feather development, and health, as well as breeding.
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