Cautions About UVB and Birds

In the past years avian vets and avian experts started to notice a trend among long living parrots. They noticed an increase in cataracts and blindness then traced they cause to the misuse of so called “Natural Sunlight Bulbs for Birds”

As it turns out UVB significantly affects birds’ eyes and many well-meaning parrot owners have inadvertently caused their pet to have cataracts or blindness by misusing lights with UVB.

In a study published by the Royal Society of Biological Sciences, a team of scientists studied a number of species of parrots that are commonly kept as pets and found that they possess UV-sensitive visual pigments (UVS). Consequently, their eyes are highly sensitive to UVB and overexposure can cause cataracts, macular degeneration, and blindness.

While this is an understudied subject and at the writing of this article not every species of parrots was studied you can read the full study here. Read More 

In nature a bird is only exposed to UV output zero to six hours per day. Its wavelength varies, and its intensity ranges from zero to maximum depending on many factors such as geographic location, weather, time of day, and shade. Artificial lamps emit UV at the same intensity all the time.

This is a refreshingly accurate article from “The Association of Avian Veterinarians” about exposing pet birds to artificial UVB. It does a great job of explaining about different intensity and exposure time for different species. Read More