Turn Off The Lights: Birds Are Migrating

Fall bird migration is underway, with nearly half a billion birds expected to cross the United States over the next several weeks, heading from the Northern Hemisphere to South America. The migration runs through mid-November and includes species like blackpoll warblers, chimney swifts, and scissor-tailed flycatchers. Lit windows and buildings pose a real danger to these birds: at least one billion die each year after colliding with skyscrapers and other lighted structures, since bright lights draw migrating birds off course and they can't distinguish glass from open sky or reflections of trees. In New York City alone, more than 250,000 birds die this way annually.

Some cities, including Minneapolis and Chicago, ask residents to turn off or dim lights during migration season to reduce these collisions. Building owners can help by switching off decorative exterior lighting and floodlights and installing motion sensors instead of leaving lights on constantly.

For an individual homeowner, the simplest response is lowering shades or turning off unnecessary exterior and interior lights at night through mid-November, similar to how some coastal communities already dim lights to protect nesting sea turtles. It costs little and takes small effort, but it can meaningfully cut the risk that migrating birds passing near your home mistake a lit window for open sky.