LED Lights For bird Cages

Hello all im a newbie with Parrots. But i have alote of experience with Salt Water Coral and freshwater planted tanks. The recent trend in that hobby is a move to full spectrum LED lights. I have lights that can simulate kelvins from 4000k-20,000k. From my research bird use of light is usually in the 5000K 6000K range. This spectrum mimics natural sunlight at noon or at the equator.

Based on the information on aquarium use, LEDS have been shown to grow most if not all coral species successfully and in planted tanks has been prooven to grow most if not all plants successfully.

The problem i see with all pet hobbies is the seemingly deliberate and seperate LABELING of what light does what; ie. Reptiles need full spectrum light as does plants but a reptile light will NOT list the Kelvin!! instead it will list UVB only and say natural sunlight.

whereas aquarium Lights HIGHLIGHT the spectrum, specifying the range of colour (Sunlight time of day). Now im finding that the few lights for birds provides little to no information besides " Natural Light"

My notion is that the proper spectrum LED should be fine for providing birds with the Vitamin D needed to remain healthy. (NOT INTENDED TO SUBSTITUTE TRUE SUN EXPSOURE)

Is anyone using LED's to light bird cages? if so has there been a marked difference in behavior etc?
Does anyone know of any research documenting the effects of LEDs on Tropical Parrots?

thanx

I used to do reef tank here....I only have a freshwater tank with double bright LED lighting now. I LOVE the lighting!!! And yes I've thought for a long time to try the LED lighting on my birds to see what happens. But some of them are pretty expensive just for a trial! Maybe getting back into saltwater again in the spring so we'll see if I can obtain one from someone in the reef club locally to try....

I currently have a current USA strip but its in the 12k range so maybe too blue..
Home depot sells 5000k flood lights that I use on a shallow planted that has done very well..

Im looking at these to hang over my Bird Cage.

www.LEDwholesalers.com - Linkable 20 Inch Low Profile Aluminum LED Rigid Strip for Display Case and Under Cabinet Light

I will be following this closely. I had a reef until Danny came along and I had to sell it for vet bills! I have thought about this also. You may try calling one of the US LED aquarium light makes and ask about the comparison.

@Shelly, i have spoke to a few pet shop ownerrs that carry birds, reptile and fish and they seem clueless.. although one of them beleives that reptiles at least shouldnt have any difference in light requirements than birds..

The more i think About it. All these pets in the wild depend on the SAME sun!!
In domesticated hobbies All the lights are but imitations of the Sun.. Only difference being the colour/kelvin and intensity/lumens. So why not LED's?? I'll go for it but since this will be my first parrot i probably wont be able highlight any changes in quality of life amd my Elkie wony be hear for a few weeks.

I live in california so the Sunlight is almost year around. But my breeder swears by a lighted cage for health which is why im adament about this search..

When I looked into lights, reptile and bird lights are different. They both had different ranges. I think as long as they get at least some sunlight a week and have a cage in a brightly lit area in the house all is well.

acen said:

I currently have a current USA strip but its in the 12k range so maybe too blue..
Home depot sells 5000k flood lights that I use on a shallow planted that has done very well..

Im looking at these to hang over my Bird Cage.

www.LEDwholesalers.com - Linkable 20 Inch Low Profile Aluminum LED Rigid Strip for Display Case and Under Cabinet Light

Click to expand...

The problem with this light is that it doesn't simulate sunlight so it would be just a lighting purpose. We would have to look into the reef growing LEDS in order to simulate the sunlight better.

There are a ton of options out there for reef LEDs now-a-days, with several ways to DIY. What kelvin would be appropriate for birds? I think a lot of the reef LEDs are in the 10-12k range but there are also some freshwater LEDs out there capable of growing freshwater plants, I think those are usually in the 5500-6000k range - maybe that would work better for birds? LEDs have the added benefit of putting out very little heat, are much more energy efficient, and last much longer than regular bulbs.

I would think the fresh water would be fine. Reef would be really intense. Most parrots do not sit in the full sun all day long.

ShellyBorg said:

I would think the fresh water would be fine. Reef would be really intense. Most parrots do not sit in the full sun all day long.

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Very true, the reef LEDs are pretty intense; though I have some on my low-tech reef that only has a few low light corals and the LEDs are fully dimmable, blues and whites independently, so you can change the color and brightness.

Now that I think about it though, I'm actually not sure whether aquarium LED lighting gives off UVB or UVA, which is what birds would need, right? Lighting for corals is rated by its PAR value, which is a measure of visible light intensity. This supports photosynthesis, which occurs in the symbiotic algae that live in coral tissue.

Because of the limitations imposed on messages by the forums, this post is in multiple parts.....


Ahhh, a new dimension is added to the raging controversy of ‘full spectrum lighting’ and how it does or does not relate to companion birds. To understand all the players in this controversy, you have to understand that the term ‘full spectrum lighting’ is a marketing term, purportedly to have been coined by photobiologist John Ott and successfully marketed by General Electric Corporation to promote the then new technology of fluorescent lighting because, at that time, most industrial, office and school lighting was by incandescent light fixtures. There is no government or medical definition or specification to describe the term…..in actuality, what you read about a particular product was concocted & written by the various manufacturers and vendors of the products and their advertising departments.

GE, back in the 50s & 60s, at the time, the premier lighting company in the U.S., had invested big money in the new fluorescent lighting technology, but it wasn’t going very far fast enough, so they jumped on the ‘full spectrum’ band wagon and sold political pundits on the idea that this new lighting was better for junior’s and sister’s school eyes than those old fashioned incandescent bulbs…..it worked & American government, local, state & federal, spent millions of $$$ re-wiring American schools…..from there, other manufacturers joined in & set up elaborate advertising & marketing campaigns for their respective products…and…because there was no ‘truth in advertising law’ and there still isn’t, their respective advertising campaigns have made millions for their companies, often by simply re-packaging an item, re-pricing it upward & adding a phrase like:

Daylight 6500K color temperature is clear and bright with a pronounced blue cast that simulates outdoor conditions.

Or maybe you’ll read something like this from Mercola:

Part 2.....


Ladies and gentlemen, You and I are standing on the threshold of a very historic event.
Very shortly, you'll be witness to the actual turning of a page in history. You'll see something you've taken for granted every day of your life, slip slowly into the mist of the past. I'm talking about the common, run-of-the-mill, everyday light bulb.

Earlier this year, Congress passed a bill that will literally outlaw the use of old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs.

A recent news release stated that the new law is part of a massive governmental energy-saving program that will completely phase out the use of those energy-gobbling incandescent light bulbs by the year 2014.

That's right, starting in 2012 it will actually be against the law to use regular incandescent light bulbs.

Although Mercola would have you believe their product is revolutionary, they don’t tell you the whole truth…..as part of a worldwide initiative by world governments, the normal incandescent light bulb has been banned from manufacture after 2015…..so, as roaches scatter when you turn on lights, these marketing roaches are coming out of the woodwork & any other crevice they hide in…..

Part 3.....


Actually, considering that they can say most anything they want, Mercola’s diatribe at Full Spectrum Light Bulbs | Natural Sunlight - Mercola.com is quite comical.

Then there is Verilux, that used to market avian products, but their current sales pitch at Verilux Full Spectrum Light Bulbs: Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, and Replacement Bulbs no longer mentions anything about their lights being suitable for birds…..

Drs. Foster & Smith, on their web page Full Spectrum Lighting: Provide the <br>Ultraviolet Light Your Bird Needs offers this:

Full-spectrum lights emit light across the entire range of the possible lightbulb spectrum and some contain UVB in amounts beneficial to our avian friends. Because humankind has not, or cannot compete with nature, we are still unable to exactly mimic the light of the sun with manufactured materials. Therefore, no lightbulb can emit light that spans the full ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light spectrum the way that natural sunlight can. However, the avian full-spectrum lightbulbs with UVB that are available today better mimic the sun than ever before, thus are well suited for avian care.

If you read the various disclaimers for products you might be interested in, you’ll find that none of them will make specific claims that the rest of their advertising would have you believe…and…if you contact the manufacturer/vendor, you will receive replies similarly skirting specific claims their advertising might allude to…..

Many of us have heard our veterinarian suggest ‘full spectrum lighting’ for our birds, however, you may want to consider that the dynamics of lighting is a science that the average veterinarian would likely only know from what they may have read in veterinary journals or the advertising information they have received from manufacturers/vendors…..to be conversant in the engineering of lighting a veterinarian would need to remain in a college of engineering several more years…..

Part 4.....


Rennselier Polytechnic Institute’s Lighting Research Center has published information that convolutes the sales pitches the various manufacturers & vendors would have you believe, so, you might want to spend some time data that has not been skewed for marketing purposes…..

While Rennselier has the Lighting Research Center, there are other independent research and data that disputes the sales pitches of manufacturers & vendors selling avian related lighting…..those interested in reading it needs to simply look past the advertising hogwash from manufacturers and vendors of the questionable merchandise.

Solid state lighting, which LED lighting is, is a whole new animal as relates to avian or any other animal lighting needs and when considering LED lighting is used in or for under water habitats, remember that most window glass is manufactured to block various wave lengths of light, to prevent fading of the interiors of our living spaces and the same happens naturally when sunlight is filtered through water, only to a greater degree as water depth increases.

Because LED lighting is energized using low voltage DC electricity, it cannot generate the same light spectrums that can be generated by higher voltage light fixtures…..now I do not know the diffusion factor LED lighting might appreciate through aquarium water, however, the LRC at Rennselier Polytechnic has recently begun studies into various commercial potential applications for the newer LEDs & OLEDs coming out…..if you are interested in current application data on the various products available, the LRC would be a good place to touch base with…..

You could also research the National Institute of Standards and Technology, they published standards in 2008 for the measurement of solid-state lighting and The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America has published a testing standard for solid-state lighting, so if you’re interested in staying current on LED lighting technology, you might want to look there also…..

Although there have been several sales pitches alluding to spectrum lighting being produced by LEDs those spectrums are not the same as what is alluded to in sales pitches about avian related ‘full spectrum lighting.’

As with anything consumer related, “you get what you pay for” and if you are buying something you do not understand and do not get what you think you are purchasing, it is a ‘buyer beware’ situation…..

@MikeyTN

These LED'd have a 5500K spectrum.. They would do fine as i have tested the 5500K Flood lights from home depot on my planted tank and they do very very well. The Cree LED's have powerful lumen output as well. The concept of simulating sunlight is based on the color Spectrum. So ounce you can dial in the Kelvin i think your ok.

@ Caietaro

Yeah Not sure about the UVB UVA aspect with LED's either, i wonder if its another marketing thing?? Heck im not sure its real with HO'S CFL's etc??

Hi, I just found this thread while doing an internet search. I don't have parrots, I have finches; Lady Gouldians. My husband is into salt water as well. Recently he had to troubleshoot a $200 led fixture and he has learned a bit and is expanding his know-how where it comes to building these things. My issue is I have breeder cages, and while they're in a well lit room, often times I feel like they need more light, especially the cages on the bottom. The normal lights we use won't fit between the cages. So he is going to be building some fixtures. He has all sorts of options, but building materials aren't cheap. he's starting with a combination of 3 whites (cool, warm & nuetral), I may have him add some blues depending on how everything looks. He will be using no more than 6500 Kelvin. I've been raising finches for almost 10 years, so I will notice a difference if there is one. I will post some progress reports and pictures if we ever accomplish anything.

I don't think birds need lighting higher than 5500 Kelvin...



and I wonder if a regular ballast meant to be hung from the ceiling could be changed to hang from a wall instead?

LED lights are Eco-Friendly Best Energy Saving Lights as they have no harmful effects even people are using them for plants and that can be seen here through this snap, so make your pets fully Eco-friendly by using such lights in their home along with them to use in Industry as well as for study purpose and on any special occasion with vivid colors.